Unexpected
by AmandaIsPrettyGreat
Summary: Former human Akane awakens in Cross Academy's infirmary one day calling Zero by the name of his twin, Ichiru. Why does she feel the need to protect herself against the innocent teen she things is Ichiru? And how does she know the boy that was pronounced dead 5 years ago?
1. Chapter 1

White and blue blurred together is I rubbed open my hazel eyes, whimpering a bit at the movement. I found myself in a hospital bed with bandages tied around my stomach, right leg, and neck. As I took in my surroundings I noticed 3 crucial things.

First, I was in what looked like an infirmary. Beds lined the white walls in an orderly fashion while medical supplies lay all over. The windows let in the dark of the night sky, a few stars visible through tree branches that lie outside. The smell of cleaning products and blood was strong enough to suffocate even someone with a stuffy nose.

Second, I was truly, undeniably, injured, feeling soreness take over my entire body. It seemed like there were brand new stitches under my bandage on my stomach. I winced once more at the thought. Being wounded was the last thing I needed at a moment like this.

And third, and most importantly, there were 3 men staring at me from the foot of the bed. One had a green coat on and straw-like hair with glasses. He seemed friendly enough. Another had an eye patch, a trench coat, and a pissed off look on his face, accompanied by one good, blue eye. Sirens went off in my head. He didn't seem friendly. And the third, well the third was my worst nightmare.

Ichiru. The very _thing_ I was running from.

I quickly bounded off the the right side of the hospital bed, letting out a gasp as I moved. My muscles screamed at me to stop motion but I couldn't. I had to at least put up a fight. I couldn't let Ichiru drag me back to that hell. I swiftly pulled up my charcoal high waisted skirt and grabbed my knife out of its holster around my thigh, ready to defend myself.

Ichiru, wearing some odd black uniform, pulled a gun from his coat and pointed it at me.

"What the hell?!" I yelled, grunting a bit from the pain. "How did you find me?" The three men looked confused at my words, but didn't seem to let their guard down. I let out a frustrated grunt. "Answer me Ichiru! How?!"

That sentence seemed to shock them most. Especially Ichiru. His hands twitched a bit at his name and even the man with raven black hair seemed to widen his one eye. What the hell was so surprising?

"D-did you say...Ichiru?" The lilac eyed boy whispered.

What the hell is he going on about? Is he trying to trick me? Is he pretending to be someone he's not in front of these strangers?

"Stop playing games Ichiru!" I grunted, beginning to lose balance due to my wounds. My head began to spin as I stumbled back a bit and caught myself quickly.

"Please, take a seat. You must be so confused, as are we at the moment." The man with the long blonde hair commented. He seemed softer than the others, yet there was still something dangerous about him. Like he had power under that soft exterior. "We won't harm you."

My eyes shifted from him back to Ichiru. "I'm not going back with you." I said in a low voice. "You'll have to kill me first."

The eye patched man spoke this time, "Zero, put the gun down now, she doesn't understand what's going on." I looked at the man angrily. Zero? Who the hell...? Flipping the knife in my hand I stared at them.

_Never going back. Never._

Ichiru slowly lowered his gun with a low "Yes, Master." Then, the blonde man spoke again. "Please, take a seat. This isn't Ichiru. This is his brother, Zero. They were twins. Now please, don't strain yourself by standing. Again, we mean you no harm."

I looked into this man's deep auburn eyes. Could I trust him? He seemed to be honest, and I was always good at detecting lies. But it was such a risk. I battled it out for a moment in my head. I then sighed and lowered my knife, slowly leaning back up against the bed, but not fully taking a seat.

"Where am I?" I demanded.

The blue eyed man answered. "Cross Academy. An elite private school. Now it's your turn to answer. How did you, an obvious Level D, manage to show up on the campus of a massive fenced in private school? Ya' know what, even better, how did you get the shit kicked out of you in the process?"

I decided then and there I liked this guy. He seemed tough, something I could only pretend to be for the time being.

I looked down at the knife in my hand, twisting it around as I spoke. "I ran away from a...bad...situation. That's all." My voice started to become lower, finally feeling the effects of being injured in full swing. I grabbed my stomach wound a bit and turned, placing my legs on the bed. I couldn't stand leaning up against the bed anymore, these wounds made it to painful. Plus, at this point it became obvious that these people wouldn't hurt me. I had answers to questions they couldn't even begin to comprehend.

"Why did you call me Ichiru?" Asked the silver haired boy eagerly. "Ichiru is dead. He was taken away a long time ago." The teenager, Zero as they called him, seemed slightly upset at mentioning the death of Ichiru, though with my experience with Ichiru him dying seemed like a gift from God.

"Well unless he died since I've been here, then you're sadly mistaken. Though I would give anything to see that boy dead. Shizuka and him, they are disgusting, the things they do. But that's just how Purebloods are I suppose." I sighed. My eyelids began to droop involuntarily as I laid my head back against the headboard. My vision became a bit blurred again, but I still had enough vision to notice Zero now supported himself against the wall to the left of my bed. He seemed shocked and hurt even.

"Don't speak like that about Ichiru." He commanded in a monotone voice. I used all my force to open my eyes once more, even sitting up a bit. "I'll talk about him how ever I please. That boy causes so much pain, and according to him it's 'just the beginning.'"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zero pried, pushing himself off the wall and towards the bed. "Where is he?!" Zero yelled, obviously sick of not knowing.

I felt myself slipping away again, simply standing taking everything out of me. "Like I know where the hell that place is..." I murmured. I tried to focus on staying awake, but with every passing second it seemed to get harder. "I was way more focused on getting away from him."

Zero sighed as I placed my arm over my eyes. " Who are you?" He continued to demand, this time with less hostility.

"Zero," the blonde began. "We all want answers. But we aren't gonna get any when she's in this state. Give it some time."

Zero glared at the blonde but uttered something in agreement.

"Good," the blonde smiled. "Now just one last question then we'll let you rest till morning. What is your name?"

I moved my hand from my face to my stomach now. "I'll trade you an answer for some painkillers please." I responded in an exhausted tone. The man with glasses smiled and retrieved some from s cabinet. I swallowed them instantly without water.

"Akane"

Hey! This is my first posted fanfiction so I'm super excited for any feedback at all. I have a couple paths I want to go down with this particular story so I only posted this little intro. Tell me what you think.? Any feedback would be motivation for me to update, otherwise I don't know what would become of this story. Just to mention, sorry this is a bit short. I myself am a fan of longer chapters in fanfiction so it won't be my intention for short chapters here and there, I prefer larger and juicier chapters. Also, I'm sorry if anyone seemed OOC, I will try my best for interactions to be as smooth as possible. Thanks! And, fun fact the name Akane means deep red!


	2. Chapter 2

Slowly I felt the pain medication wear off, allowing my mind to wander while my eyes stayed forced shut. I found myself stuck in a recurring dream that seemed to get worse and worse every time it raced through my weary mind.

_Darkness surrounded me in a suffocating manner. No matter how hard I tried my legs wouldn't budge forward or back, leaving me stranded in this new type of dark._

_I tried to cry out for someone, anyone, to help. Only to realize I couldn't. My throat was too dry and, to be honest, I had no one to cry to. I don't have a name to call when I'm in trouble, and even my dreaming self realized that._

_Suddenly, I heard shuffling behind me. I twisted around only to be greeted but familiar blood red eyes. The eyes I feared. The eyes that ruined me. Shizuka._

_I pushed my body to the extreme, trying to pick up my legs. Trying to release the glue that was keeping my feet stuck to the ground. My heartbeat was loud in my ears. No. No. I can't go like this. I made it so far._

_Shizuka's figure was now behind me, her hand pushing back my long brown hair in a chillingly familiar way. She jerked my head to the right and began to move in. I sucked in what felt like would be my last breath. But just as I felt her breath brush my neck, light filled my dream._

I woke up sweating, my front bangs sticking to my soaked forehead. I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and tried to slow my breath. Did she do that? Can she reach me even when I'm not there? I gripped my sheets in anger. My knowledge on vampires was bleak, and it seemed to be getting me in deep trouble each time I learned something new.

I let out a sigh, finally having normal breathing again. I needed to calm down and focus on what's important. Shizuka wasn't here. I'm safe for the time being.

I felt around the bandage on my neck, stomach, and leg. It seemed like the one on my neck had stopped bleeding and was almost healed while the one on my stomach was in terrible condition.

I stood from the soaked sheets, shifting weight from left to right, seeing how my right leg would hold up. It seemed fine, only stinging a little bit, though the physical appearance of the wound would scream otherwise.

I decided I was okay and felt disgusting from my nightmare. Sweat, blood, and bandages were a horrible combination. A warm shower seemed fitting. The room was completely empty though. You would think there would be a nurse on duty at a private school.

I began opening random doors around the room. Closet, closet, toilet, closet. In the many closets I found myself a towel, rag, and new set of plain, pajama clothes.

The door on the complete opposite side of the infirmary led me to a room full of white tiled shower stalls with white curtains. I decided that I deserved the luxury of the large handicap shower and chose that one without hesitation.

I stripped down from my clothes and ripped off my neck and leg bandages. Turning on the water to the warmest setting, I began to wet the rag. I figured it was best to not touch my stomach wound. I'm no doctor, so I didn't want any more problems.

I used to rag to wash myself carefully for a few minutes, then shut off the water. I dried and dressed myself relatively fast and moved over to the sink so I could wash my hair without getting my stomach wet. After that very difficult and painful endeavor, I dried my hair and looked in the mirror.

My bright, hazel-green eyes were full of restlessness while my thin figure seemed like it would collapse at any moment. They must have thought I was crazy when they first spotted me. But they just don't know what I've been through. What I've caused.

I let out a sigh and tugged on the bottom of the tank top, pulling it over the top of the plaid pajama pants. My dark brown hair had began curling at the bottom, which was probably the only nice thing about my appearance at the moment.

A headache pushed into my mind and I decided I should take a seat and wait for those people to come back.

Zero and the two men, who announced themselves as the Headmaster of the school, Cross Kaien, and a vampire hunter, Yagari Toga, had escorted themselves out of the infirmary after I fell asleep. I wondered when they would get here again to interrogate me about my connection to Ichiru. How would I answer though? I don't want to be a target to them as well. Ichiru was a friend, and it was my fault he tuned bad. Would they blame me for that? Would Ichiru come after me even worse for telling them?

My headache worsened as I shuffled back to the bed. I pulled off the sheets with a swift motion and replaced them with clean ones from the closet.

I hope they don't mind I'm doing all of this myself, but the lack of a nurse is really taking it's toll.

After putting the new sheets on I flopped back down on the bed. I pulled the bottom of my tank top up to right under my cleavage, then began to play with the gauss wrapped around my wound, a tired habit I'd had since I was young.

It felt weird, all these wounds and I could barely remember what happened. I shut my eyes and replayed the scene in my mind. Shizuka. Me. Ichiru. Bite. Pain. Suffering. Running. Chasing. Scratch. Fighting. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Scratch. Nothing. Infirmary. It all played through my mind in chunks and I couldn't grab onto anything. Did I injure my head? Why can't I remember how I got here?

I shut my eyes once more, really focusing this time. The pain of a headache creeped through the back of my mind. It's like the memory of the previous night had been blocked out. Something a monster like a pureblood could do I suppose.

Out of nowhere I heard the sound of a doorknob turning. I quickly sat up and pulled my tank top back down.

My eyes were instantly met by the eyes that were beautiful and at the same time scary to me. I gripped the sheets out of habit, afraid of what the boy might do to me, even though this wasn't that boy at all.

Zero walked towards the bed silently. "The Headmaster sent me to come see you. If you're well enough he wants you to meet with him in his office." I shifted my eyes away from his lilac orbs.

A meeting. I suppose this is the interrogation I've been waiting for. "Fine." I sighed.

I began to stand up and make my way towards the boy, but he looked confused.

"What?" I questioned, trying to come off a bit tough. "I didn't think you could walk. You seemed in so much pain yesterday." "Oh." I started. "Well it's really just my stomach that hurts. My neck and thigh aren't anything more than common injuries I guess."

I gripped my stomach a bit. It was bothersome to walk, but I wasn't about to make a big deal.

"Alright. If you say so" the boy replied in a monotone.

We exited the room and began down some stairs to our right. I gripped the rails trying not to wince. Every step I took hurt my stomach more and more. I tried to focus on other things instead so I wouldn't make a scene. I chose the building.

It was beautiful. Victorian style architecture had always fascinated me, and here it was thrown around as common as light switches. Dark wood, traditional doors, large windows with panes. I was so mesmerized but it I hadn't noticed we had reached the ground floor. I hopped off the last step, thanking the Lord the stairs were no more.

As we walked out the front door I looked to my left to see Zero staring at me. "What now?" I commented.

"How do you know Ichiru?" He demanded.

I stopped walking and looked up at him. "Why should I tell you? Who knows, you could be helping him." I shot.

I knew it was unlikely, I mean I trusted these strangers enough to spend the night, but it's all I could come up with to respond. Why should he ask me such a personal question out of nowhere? Obviously we were going to discuss this in a few minutes time anyways. Even if it was his brother.

Zero pulled his gaze up from my shoes and shot me an upset glare.

"I thought he was dead. I'm not 'working with him', obviously".

I looked away. "It's none of your business how I know him or what's going with us on or anything like that." I started. "He's your brother? Great! He's alive. Happy now? That's all the information I'm offering right now so if you don't like it, I'll be out of your way."

I turned and began walking towards some trees. I had no idea where I was going but it had to be better then this. Why in the world would he think I would want to share my whole life story with a complete stranger? Who the hell does he think he is? I just gave him the greatest gift in the world, his asshole of a brother is alive.

After a few short steps I heard a click and felt the cool touch of metal on my back.

I slowly went to grab my knife, only to realize I had left it upstairs. _How stupid of me._ I slowly turned around to face the trigger of the shiny metallic gun threatening me.

"What's the matter? I can't walk?" I grunted, extremely annoyed with this boy. First, you demand personal information from me and next you point a gun at me? Yeah, that's how you make friends.

"You're a danger to this campus if you leave my sight, so I suggest you go to the Headmasters office with me, before I blow you to bits." I let out a dull sigh, trying to calm myself down. At this point, the Headmaster was the best option, he seemed more logical than this mess. I'll actually talk to him.

"Fine. Lead the way oh Mighty Guardian." I responded, my words laced with sarcasm.

Zero frowned and lead us to the left again, down a cobble stone path. We both stayed silent as we made our way down the path. After a few minutes of walking, another school building of the same style came into sight, this one only being two stories though. We entered and Zero began making his way up the stairs.

I trailed behind, groaning with every step. The pain seemed impossible to bear with after just three steps. I stopped and took a break and then tried to continue. Zero let out a sigh and glared at me.

He swiftly moved down from the landing up ahead and put my arm over his shoulder, walking me slowly up each step. Once at the top I quietly thanked him. He didn't respond, just opened the double doors in front of us into an office.

It was a good size, with a large window on the back wall, a sofa in the corner, a bookshelf, and two chairs seated in front of the desk. It was comfortable.

The Headmaster sat behind the desk and gave me a sweet smile while motioning me to sit down. I did so and noticed Zero stand against the wall to the right of me.

"I'm glad to see you're awake and walking." The man and glasses began. "Yes, thank you for your help," I responded politely.

After a brief moment of silence he continued. "So, let's just get down to business. An injured level D vampire like yourself shouldn't have been anywhere near this academy, so how did it come to be that way?"

I looked down into my lap. Should I be honest? I just met these people. They could be toxic, just like everyone else. I looked back up at the man's caring eyes and immediately made my decision.

"I honestly don't remember." I confessed. "I remember having to run and... and... I don't know for sure what are real and what parts aren't. It's all so broken up."

I tapped my fingers on my knee as I confessed this, fearing the reaction to come. The Headmaster gave me a reassuring smile.

"That's understandable. I mean after all those injuries it's natural you have suppressed at least some of this information. It'll come back soon enough, I suppose. When it does I trust you'll come talk to me about it so I can file a report. Now, how do you know Ichiru?"

I nodded at his trust in me, though I wasn't sure if I would follow through with his request. I didn't owe anyone anything, no matter how polite they are.

I glanced at Zero for a moment but quickly turned away at eye contact. He seemed deeply interested in finding out about his lost brother.

"I don't want to talk about it." I started with a stern voice, trying to keep calm. At these words I saw Zero stiffen, like he was trying to control his actions.

The Headmaster shook his head. "I understand this must be hard for you, but legally, Ichiru is a missing person now, and all information must come forward."

His words made my body ache. I didn't want to talk about it.

"No." I shot at the Headmaster, refusing to budge.

"Akane." He tried once more.

I couldn't take it. My hands gripped the edge of the chair with inhuman force. I let out a grunt as I felt my emotions boil over. "What do you want to hear? He was my friend when we were young! It was my fault he met that monster Pureblood! And now years later I'm paying for it! That's it!" I angrily responded. "Now I don't have to answer your questions! Thanks for your help but I'm out of here!" I shot up and made my way towards the door. Zero moved forward, chasing after me, but was stopped by the Headmaster's words.

"Akane, I'm sorry to have upset you but you can't leave." At the sound of my name I turned back around. The blonde bolted up and quickly pulled out a letter from his desk drawer. He held it out to me.

"It's a letter from The Association. They aren't allowing you to leave the premises without the guidance of a hunter. They believe your contact with the Pureblood Shizuka could hold vital information to her whereabouts and reasons for her attacks on an innocent family."

I skimmed the letter and it indeed stated this. I sunk back down to the chair, feeling defeated and trapped. _She's going to find me if I stay here. I'm going to die. Or worse, I'll have to go back._

"Again, my deepest apologies." The Headmaster consoled.

All I could do was simply read the letter over and over, praying that the words would change with each read.

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><p>Okay... so that took a while. I wrote this chapter on and off, hopefully that's not noticeable. School has been completely crazy, but thankfully my GPA is ALMOST where I want it. I guess it took a month of neglecting what I love. But now it's Holiday Break and shit is gonna go down. I'll be writing as much as I can, trying to make this perfect. I definitely know where I want this story to go now! And the backstory is almost perfect. There is so much to be excited about. ^-^ Well, farewell, I promise it won't be that long again. Please review, I would love any feedback; positive, negative, anything that tells me this is being read.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Confirmation

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><p>The rest of the time spend in that office was unbearable.<p>

Where is Shizuka now? What did you do to help her? Why has she been in hiding? Why did she attack the innocent Kiryu family? Did you assist her with that attack?

I declined each question over and over, to afraid to speak. I didn't know what Her next move would be and I didn't want to know. She could be leaving me here or coming to kill me, and I couldn't bring myself to think of which would be more logical. I just wanted this all to be over.

I now sat in the Headmasters personal living room at his estate on campus. It was a beautiful living room fit with a 3 person couch, two single chairs, a fireplace, and a TV. I sat stuck on the couch for about 10 minutes now while the Headmaster spoke to the Hunters Association on the phone.

It was explained to me that the Hunters Association organized hunting while simultaneously keeping vampires in check, which I suppose made me feel a little bit better. I had heard Ichiru speak to our Pureblood 'master' about them a few times with concern in his voice. Maybe Purebloods feared them?

I prayed Purebloods feared them. I mean, I knew hunters wouldn't have any grace with me, I was a vampire. But I had also noticed by scent that Zero was a vampire too, which means they had to be at least a little accepting to make him a vampire hunter.

I thought about how this all must have hurt Zero so much. Losing his family was difficult enough, but for news of his brother being alive must be tearing him apart. I just couldn't tell him though. He and everyone else would be safer not knowing. At least till I figured out what Shizuka Hio's intentions are.

I sighed and held my head up with my right arm. Why did Ichiru and I have to make everything so damn complicated. I began to wonder what Ichiru would be doing right now, and if he even felt bad for all of this pain he's been causing.

I remembered back to when Ichiru and I were young, before Shizuka. Before all the problems.

_"Mommy, can I go talk to that boy over there?" I questioned innocently. My beautiful mother looked down on me, our identical green orbs shimmering in the bright hospital light._

"_If that's what you want, sweetie. Do you need help? It was a tough night last night, you must be tired."_

_I simply shook my head. I had to push through. Every night seemed like a tough night lately. But I couldn't let my sickness get the best of me. I pushed myself off the chair and stumbled over to the silver haired boy with lilac eyes. He sat next to a woman with brown hair and lilac eyes who was reading a magazine. I chose the waiting room seat next to him._

_"Hello. I'm Akane." I began, pulling my black sun hat down a bit more to hide my bald head. "What's your name?"_

_"Ichiru." He responded with a tired smile._

My reminiscing was interrupted by the calling of my name. I jumped a bit and looked to my right to the private office the Headmaster had just walked out of.

"Are you feeling alright Akane?" Cross questioned.

"Uhm yeah of course. What did they say?" I pried. The Headmaster looked a bit sorry at what I asked.

"They confirmed exactly what the letter said. You must stay here for information to be collected on Shizuka. My apologies."

I wanted to be mad, blow up on Cross, and run away, but I knew that wasn't fair. He was just doing what he was ordered to do. But I couldn't act like this was okay. I felt like the longer I stayed somewhere, the easier it would be for Ichiru to find me.

"I figured it would be best you stayed in the house till you're completely healed, wounds tend to give level D vampires trouble with their blood lust, especially since you won't be taking what ever nutrients the nurse was putting in your system anymore, it'll be a difficult road. Then after this is all sorted out I wouldn't mind you moving into the dorms."

I let out a gasp. "Wait. You want me to go to school?" I stood from the couch a little too quickly, hurting my stomach on the way. I lightly gripped it, trying not to let out a cry.

"Well of course." He responded. You're going to be here by orders anyways. Education is such an important part of a teens life, I don't see why you would want to miss it."

"Well maybe I would want to miss it because I'm currently dealing with two maniacs that completely ruined my life?!" I shot back.

The Headmaster looked a bit shocked at my yelling, but continued in his calm and collected tone. A tone that annoyed the hell out of me. "I cannot help you with them unless you tell me what the problem is. Once you give me that information, we can come up with a solution together and ensure your safety. But without any information all I can do is follow orders."

He didn't understand what trusting someone was like for me now. How could he expect me to speak to him about things that I still haven't gotten over yet? I began to breath a bit heavier and my eyes began to tear up as I thought about it again. Mom. Dad. Ichiru. Where has my life gone?

"I can ensure my own safety if you would just let me leave. That's all it takes!" I yelled, holding in my tears. I couldn't show weakness so I clenched my fists instead.

Just as the last words flew out of my mouth a girl about my age walked in. She had brown hair to her shoulders and simple brown eyes. She was short and petite, her black uniform jacket seeming a bit too big on the waist. She stayed silent, just staring at us waiting for an explanation.

"Yuki my darling!" The Headmaster cried. "How are you my lovely daughter?" He ran up and hugged her a bit too tight, like we weren't just having an important discussion at all.

"I'm doing fine father." She smiled. "What's going on?"

The girl, Yuki, was staring me up and down like she was concerned. I guess she heard me yelling at her father. Oops.

"Yuki, this is Akane. She is a vampire that will be attending Cross Academy for the time being." He paused. "Akane, this is my daughter Yuki. She attends the Academy and is also apart of the disciplinary committee."

"Disciplinary committee?" I questioned. Shouldn't the adults be in charge of discipline?

"Yes, the disciplinary committee. " Yuki answered before the Headmaster could. "We protect the day class and night class students."

"I don't understand. There are two classes?" I asked, tilting my head a bit.

This time the Headmaster answered before Yuki could. "Uhm yes. We will discuss that later. When you are well enough to attend classes."

"I already told you I'm not attending some silly classes. The second the association says I can leave I'm out of here." I responded, crossing my arms. There was no way I was gonna sit here and play school while Ichiru and Shizuka were out there.

"I'm sure you'll come around to the idea." The Headmaster smiled. "But for now I'll show you your temporary room here. I sent Zero out to grab your belongings from the infirmary so just follow me."

He hugged Yuki one last time as a goodbye and began to lead the way out of the living room and into a hallway to the right. Down the hallway we walked till we reached the first door on the left. Cross opened the door enough to peek in. "This is the bathroom." He narrated.

I just nodded my head in response, still to upset from our conversation not even 2 minutes ago.

We continued down the hall to the third door on the right. He opened the door and allowed me to enter. "This is your room for the time being." He smiled.

I surveyed the room. It was an average size. A full bed was placed in the center with two nice sized windows on either side of it. There was a dresser and a closet on either sides of the door, which was definitely a plus. In all honesty the room was very nice, but I doubted I would ever be able to call it home. I haven't been to a place that felt like home in months now, this certainly wouldn't do it.

"'Kay. Thank you for your hospitality." Was all I could manage at the moment.

I suppose Headmaster Cross understood that I was having trouble and smiled. "Zero has dinner in the oven that he will be taking out when he comes back. You should rest till it's ready. Please, make yourself at home. "

And at that he was gone, leaving me alone in the bedroom. I stood in my spot for a moment, taking in the silence.

For the past few months my life has been hell, and I had never known how much one could miss something as simple as silence. I moved to the edge of the bed and layed down over the blankets. Then shut my eyes to take it in again.

I heard the bushes outside banging on my windows, the sound of the house setting, the sound of silence itself. It was beautiful.

But then out of no where, I heard, " Did you miss me?" I jolted up and out of the bed at the sound of Shizuka Hio's voice.

It sounded as though she was right next to me, talking directly into my ear. Damn monsters like her had too much power for their own good. All she can use it for is to ruin lives. First Ichiru's, then my own.

I knew I wouldn't be able to sit now, so I opened the window to let in some fresh air. Sadly, that wasn't enough and I decided I needed to go for a walk to completely get the pureblood out of my mind.

I had an internal debate, the window or the door. Taking the door would apply the risk of the Headmaster saying no. This possibility is what pushed me out the window, almost literally.

I climbed out, not having a problem it being on the first floor, and stepped over the bushes that waited directly outside. I began walking diagonally right, towards the sound of water. I soon came upon a small pond, and decided to dip my feet in.

I rolled up the pajama pants given to me and laughed at the fact I wasn't wearing shoes. How classy of me.

I dipped my feet in and layed back on the bed of grass, staring at the stars that attempted to hide behind the trees.

It was such a beautiful night. A night I would have been enjoying with my family if it wasn't for this mess.

A single tear left my eye as I thought about it. I would have asked to invite Ichiru over, my only friend. I'm sure he would have brought Zero too. Then we could all have hung out. If only.

All at once it all hit me just like it had months ago. My family was dead, and the only person I would want to be with at a moment like this became a monster. But a different type of monster than the one I became. He was now a monster on the inside, a monster without fangs or red eyes. A monster that liked hurting people.

Another tear slid down my cheek, then another, then another. I didn't move, just continued to cry and stare at the stars. I didn't really care at the moment. This is all I wanted, to lay down and cry.

A few minutes passed and I heard shuffling behind me, but I couldn't force myself to move or look at who it was, I just focused on the stars as they shimmered across space.

"What the hell are you-" Zero's voice called out. He abruptly stopped and silence filled the air. "Let's go." He simply whispered.

"No." Was all I could respond with.

Zero let out an annoyed sigh. "The food is gonna burn if we wait any longer. Come on."

"I'm not hungry."

"Akane...I know...but let's go now."

I thought about Zero's words for a moment. The 'I know' part. He said it with too much behind it. Too much for it not to mean something. I supposed he knew what it was like, what it was like to become the one thing you despised. To lose everything.

At this thought I forced myself to stand up and begin walking towards Zero. He lead us back to the house in no time. Just as we were about to walk into the door he grabbed my arm.

"Wait." He began. "I think it's a real asshole move that you're not telling me about Ichiru..."

I began shuffling where I stood, looking at my now dirty feet.

"But I have to know. Did Shizuka...did she change him."

I looked at Zero's lilac orbs. He held so much in them and covered it up with a tough exterior. I just sighed.

"No, he's a monster, but one of his own kind."

* * *

><p><strong>Merry Christmas! Sorry this is short and doesn't contain much action. Its coming, it'll just take some time. I really wanted to get this out by Christmas. I think next chapter I will add more action, maybe some blood lust too... who knows? I just want to make the characters interactions smooth and logical, plus I don't want to leave anything out. Im assuming everyone that reads this knows the characters well enough, so I want to make sure it doesn't seem like my OC came into this world knowing everything too. She has to learn about the world of Vampire Knight just like the rest of us I suppose. I hope the interaction with Zero was good, I want to make it clear that he's not really that fond of Akane because she wont tell him anything, but he still understands the pain she's going through. Hope that was clear enough! Please leave me reviews so I know what you think! Follows are rad too!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Purebloods pt. 1

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><p>Before entering the house Zero attempted to grab my arm again, but I quickly shook it off and retreated to the bathroom. I wasn't in the mood to talk about it. I answered his question. That was enough.<p>

I entered the white tile bathroom and shut the door. The bathroom was made up of a double vanity, toilet, and walk in shower. Stunning, to put it simply.

I immediately locked the bathroom door. Then placed my hands on the counter and closely inspected my mirrored image.

My bright green eyes were no longer red from crying, thank God. But my auburn hair contained a few leaves from lying in the grass. I had no regrets though, the stars were glorious and I truly needed that time to myself- even though it was only a short period of time at that.

I sighed as I picked the leaves out and made my way towards the shower. My hands sloppily made their way up my pant legs, attempting to roll them up nicely but failing miserably. Giving up I did the best I could and rinsed my grassy feet with soap and water, then using a towel from the cabinet to dry them when done.

I moved in front of the mirror again and sighed, staring into the green orbs I used to share with my mother. _I can't do this alone._ I just wanted to crawl under a rock somewhere and forget about all of this. This mess, this dismay, this uncertainty, all of it. It was too much.

I let out a sigh and remembered a quote by Walt Disney my mother would always quote. "...You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you."

"Okay, I guess this is my kick in the teeth, Mom." I whispered. "You were my kick in the teeth, but you and Dad were also the most precious things in the world to me."

I pulled myself away from the mirror, away from the eyes I missed more than anything. I began focusing on the sounds coming from the rest of the house. Should I come out yet? I didn't want to run into Zero in the hall where he could bombard me with more questions. I focused in on the sound of the front door opening, I believe Yuki answered, and then after a few seconds closing again.

The presence that entered the house hit me like a train. My shaking body hit the floor as I pushed myself up against the bathroom door, curling into a ball. I gagged at the presence, it engulfing me with every passing second. Both fear and pain immobilized me, so I sat crouched against the door, reacting to it without control.

_Not again...It can't be...Not again._

The feeling of a Pureblood near was unmistakable. Raw power in its scariest form; something as innocent as a human body. It's completely horrific.

I covered my mouth with my hand and shut my eyes. Vivid images of the scene flashed through my head like they were right in front of me again.

_"Mom!" I hollered from the second floor supply closet. "I can't find the grey paint, but we could just mix these black and white ones!" _

_I held the bottles up to the closet light, examining them closely. Our current masterpiece was a medieval style castle, a polar opposite of our daisies last week, so grey paint was definitely a must. _

_"That should be fine honey! But could you also grab some green for the grass? Thank you!" She responded. I smiled at mothers voice. It was true, a mother's voice could always calm her child. _

_"Okay! But light green or dark green?" I questioned. My hand ran over the green paints in the shelf, each one more beautiful than the last._

_After not getting an answer for a couple of seconds I sighed. "Mom? You're gonna have to update me on the color over here! Light or dark green?" I smiled, unknowingly. _

_Seconds passed and then a full minute. That's when a noise erupted from the downstairs. A scream. My mothers. _

_"Mom!" I cried, tears already forming. I bounded down the stairs as quickly as my legs could take me, hearing more screams from both my parents and the sound of things breaking. By the time I made it to the room the scene before me was to much._

_The room was painted with blood. On the couch, TV, walls,carpet. Even my mother's and my unfinished painting, tainted with the metallic liquid. _

_I followed the trail across the room, unable to breathe or move my feet to run. I knew what I had to see- where the blood came from. _

_Just under the window my mother lay, lifeless against the wall, my father there too holding her hand. My mother's green orbs were no longer shining like mine. My father, who always had a smile on his face now coldly grasped my mothers hand. The last thing he would ever do. Blood continued to drip uncontrollable from both their necks and stomachs, like they had been torn apart from the inside. And above them? _

_Shizuka Hio. _

_Tears erupted from my eyes as I ran out of the room. Under the stairs was a closet where my father kept our throwing knives. It was an activity we would do for fun on the weekends. Now they were my weapon. _

_I bolted back into the room to see Shizuka standing there, deep red eyes and pale skin eerily beautiful._

_I strapped the holster over on my thighs over my jeans and cried out. _

_"What the hell Shizuka?!" My dry voice cried out._

_I began throwing knives one by one, missing by less than an inch with her every jolt. She pushed herself elegantly left and right, barely avoiding my simple attacks. _

_Shizuka frowned. "You refused Ichiru. Now you will pay with the things you value most. First your family. Second your life. Ichiru will get the companion he longs for at last. You." _

_I let out a cry as Shizuka charged forward, almost floating with her speed. I tried to jump out of her way but was too late. Shizuka threw her body into me and slammed me into the hallway wall. I moaned at the pain of my ribs shattering, but continued to try to push her off of me. She didn't falter. _

_At that moment Shizuka did the one thing I feared most. She yanked my hair back and exposed my neck. Then sunk her teeth in, ripping the skin and forever taking my life away._

A voice in the back of my head called to me.

"Akane!" It begged. "Please! Akane! Everything is alright!"

I opened my eyes to realized my hands covered my ears. My throat burned as if I had just been screaming and my heart was going at 100 miles per hour. I slowly unwinded from my ball on the bathroom floor where I had previously been rocking back and forth screaming. As I looked around I wiped tears from my eyes.

Headmaster Cross, Zero, and Yuki all surrounded me with concern in their eyes.

"Akane." The Headmaster continued. "Are you okay?"

I just looked at all their shocked faces. There were no words I could use to describe what had just happened. I didn't even know what had happened.

"What was that?" I questioned with a shaky voice. The Headmaster, Zero, and Yuki all were nealed in front of me giving a confused look. "I-I mean why was one of _those_ here?" I tripped over my words, trying to focus again.

Headmaster Cross stood up with a neutral face. He offered out a hand to help me up. I took it.

"Come into my office Akane, I'll explain." He calmly ordered.

As he led the way he pulled out a cell phone and sent a quick message.

He opened the door for me and shut it, then proceeded to pull out one of the visitors chairs that sat in front of his wooden desk. I took the seat he had pulled for me, then he sat himself on the other side of the desk.

I held myself in the chair, still uncomfortable to say the least.

Cross cleared his throat. "So, Akane, why do you think you reacted like that to the presence of a higher rank? And if you could, be clear on what exactly happened."

I frowned at the man sitting in front of me. It literally happened five minutes ago, you can't give me a second to process this?

"I was in the bathroom when I felt a Pureblood enter. Then I just collapsed and started seeing things." I stated in aw. I didn't really want to share this with this stranger, but he seemed like the one around here to listen, even if he had to do it in a formal business like manner.

"What do you mean, 'started seeing things'?", He pried.

I looked down into my lap and started twiddling my fingers. "I...I saw the day I turned." I whispered. I looked back up at the man with straw like hair, waiting for a reaction. I definitely got one.

The Headmaster's eyes got a bit bigger and he wrote something down on a paper I hadn't even noticed was in front of him.

"What are you doing?" I questioned urgently. I didn't want him writing down information I didn't know about. "What does this mean?"

He looked at me. "Well," he began. "It's natural for a pureblood to have contact with someone they turned, but there is more to it than just simply being drawn to them. When a Pureblood bites they are taking the persons blood, bonding the two. It happens to everyone, but it's just a matter if the Pureblood uses it or not."

"What does this mean?" I asked.

Headmaster Cross shook his head a bit. "Well, initially it means that she has the option to be connected to you mentally as well. I think shes using this ability for her own good."

I rubbed my temples at this news. Using this ability for what? "So, what you're saying is Shizuka is fucking with me? Why?"

"I don't know." He admitted. "I don't know enough about the situation. Maybe if I knew why she was coming after you-"

"No" I interrupted, my mood changing. "Thats a long story I don't feel like dealing with right now. Right now, I think you should call those association dudes and tell them I'm being targeted. They will have to let me keep moving, or else Shizuka will come for me."

Cross shook his head again. "No, thats another reason they would want you to stay. These people haven't seen or heard from this Pureblood in years. She killed a whole family. The hunters would do anything to reel her in, even use you."

"Of course they freaking would." I sighed. "What about that guy with the eyepatch? Yagari, right? Wouldn't he have a say in it, you said he was a hunter."

"I'm not sure he would have a say in it, but he's respected down there at headquarters. I guess if you convince him then maybe you could convince them."

"Perfect." I responded. "Where is he?!"

The Headmaster looked at me, upset again. " He's on a mission, there's no telling when he'll drop by again. It isn't his job to stay here, he's a hunter." Cross smiled sympathetically, "but don't worry everything will work out fine!"

I curled my lips into a frown. How could this guy go from inconsiderate business monster to happy go lucky Headmaster in point two seconds?

I began standing up to leave when the Headmaster began. "Wait, please sit." I gave him a confused look but did so anyways.

"Why?" I inquired.

"I have someone I would like you to meet."

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><p><strong>Happy New Year everyone! I am currently coming to you from the East Coast at 2:20am on New Years day, because thats when I get stuff done! :) I was enjoying New Years when I thought "I can't start off the new year without another chapter! That would be mad!" So here you go! A beautiful chapter for you. By the way, take note that this is just part one of this chapter, part two will come out the next update. It's just if I kept writing it would have been ridiculous to find a stopping point. It flowed bit better this way, I think. Well anyways, I would love some reviews on this, mostly because I only read it over twice for editing instead of my normal three times rule. Favorite, follow, review, or just read! All is greatly appreciated! Hope all of you had an amazing New Year!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Purebloods pt.2

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><p>The chair in the Headmaster's office seemed to get more and more uncomfortable by the second. Each tick if the clock indicated another second I sat, a sitting duck, unknowing to what he wanted to show me.<p>

I looked into the Headmasters brown eyes and gave him a patient half smile, hoping he would allow me to leave soon.

"Don't worry." He smiled. "You'll be on your way soon enough. On the road to recovery."

At his words I looked down to my lap again and hugged my stomach with my hands. Vampires were supposed to heal faster than humans, but for former humans it would take a lot of pain and blood to make it happen. Luckily, I hadn't had any problems yet due to my extensive care from the infirmary. I hoped it would stay this way, but there were some signs of change. The wound now burned, and from what Kaien told me earlier I assumed it was because of Shizuka Hio. That monster couldn't come and kill me herself so she had to give me hell. _"Pathetic"_, I deeply thought.

Within a few seconds I felt her presence in my blood and couldn't help but scratch my neck. The scar she gave me _that_ afternoon a few months ago burned as I scratched, but nothing could get her presence out. It was as though she was sitting right next to me, tormenting me like she used to. My body tensed up out of habit. This was a feeling I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. "_Get out of my goddamn blood. Now." _I ordered her, trying to stay strong. But how was one supposed to be strong when their mind was no longer just their own?

A swift response answered, _"For now my pet. For now." _And then she was gone. I slowly loosened up, but was still cautious from the encounter.

"Akane? Are you alright?" Headmaster Cross asked, staring directly where I was scratching. His eyes seemed to hold genuine concern in them, which meant a lot to me. "You seem incredibly uncomfortable and tense."

"Uhm... Yeah. Sorry just a heat rash is all." I gave a tiny smile. The Headmaster had to of understood what just happened, he raised Zero. That poor boy is dealing with the same monster as I am, so these things must have come up at least a few times. But I was glad he was being polite anyways.

Shizuka Hio's words repeated in my mind as frequent as an eye blinking. _For now. _What was she planning? There was so much I didn't understand in this fucked up world, if she wanted to kill me why couldn't she just come do it already? There must have been a different reason for her letting me stay here unharmed, but what?

My elaborate thoughts were torn apart as the presence from earlier returned with a knock on the office door. I quickly stood from my seat and turned towards the door.

A Pureblood.

I reached down to my thigh to grab a knife and began spinning it in my hand, just like Dad had taught me. I readied my stance, knees bent and shoulder width apart. This encounter would end very, very differently. It had to.

"Akane, put those away!" Cross cried out, trying to reach for my arm across the desk. I shook him off as he got close. "Stay behind me," I told him in a firm tone.

Just as the door opened an exquisite teen came in. With a height of at least six feet, he had shaggy dark brownish-black hair that complimented his skin tone beautifully. He wore a school uniform, like Zero's but with the base white and the accents black instead. He was an amazing sight, one people would gawk at if the passed him on the street.

But there was a problem that lied under these beautiful features. The eyes. They were the eyes of a monster. Dark red mixed with brown. They were evil eyes. Eyes that, when a beam of red flashed through them, could be the end of you. The part to fear most was the fact that no one would be panicked over these eyes unless they already lost it all. These are the types of eyes you fear when it's been too late. When only bad memories lie in such outstanding orbs of brown and red.

I threw the knife.

The handcrafted knife danced through the air, spinning perfectly till it met its target. Or should I say, till it met a few inches out from the target? Just before the blade landed between the vampires eyes his hand flashed in front of it swiftly, catching it without getting cut.

_Damn it_, I thought. I sucked in my breath and grabbed another, this time arming myself with fists, the knife an accessory to a punch if necessary.

This was something I only learned a little bit of, it wasn't long after I grasped the basics of close range fights my father was taken away from me. Though he only taught me little, I remember it like it was yesterday. I blinked my eyes hard and then focused in on every move of this monster. Ready for any attack. But none came. Just words.

"Quite the welcome, Akane. But I do not wish to harm you and I do not wish to be attacked either." The pureblood spoke. He put the knife down on the floor and gently kicked it back to me. I placed it back in my holster and then took my stance again. His words made my body stiff but I forced myself to stand at guard.

"Akane! Please put down the weapon! This is Kaname Kuran, president of the night class." Kaien cut in. His words only made me grip my knife harder. What an idiot.

"Why?" I glanced at the Headmaster, who had moved a few feet to my right now. "What the hell is going on here?!" I demanded. Kaname continued to slowly move into the room. Behind him was a boy with blonde hair and beautiful green eyes. His height resembled Kaname's and he seemed pretty relaxed for the situation. He also wore a matching uniform to Kaname Kuran's. They both stopped once completely inside the doorway, closing it behind them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. As Kaien Cross just stated I am Kaname Kuran, President of the night class . This is the Vice President of the night class Ichijo Takuma." The pureblood put on a small, welcoming smile. It seemed a bit forced though, like his eyes said something else entirely. It was as though they were assessing me and trying to cover that up with the innocence of a smile, it didn't work on me.

I looked at the boy with blonde hair. "Both vampires." I commented. They all just looked at each other. Uncomfortable glaires filled the room. Headmaster Cross was the first to speak.

"This school has two different classes, the day class and the night class. The day class is occupied by humans while the night class is composed of-,"

"Bloodsuckers." I interrupted.

At this Headmaster Cross frowned and looked down, letting his blond bangs fall over his glasses a bit. But he didn't say anything. He knew I was right. This wasn't safe at all. Who would allow high ranking vampires anywhere near humans in the first place. It was unthinkable and put innocent lives in danger.

"We mean no harm." Ichijo informed. He gave me a sweet smile, which made me loosen my grip on the knife a bit. This vampire didn't seem like a vampire at all, if it wasn't for his stunning good looks I probably wouldn't have even noticed him. _But he is a vampire_, my thoughts warned. _They are all so manipulative._ The blonde teen, Ichijo Takuma, even added a gentle wave at the end of his spiel.

I looked to my right to see Cross' eyes burning into mine. "Akane, this arrangement promotes peace between vampires and humans. It shows that both can coexist together in this world, and even in this school." Kaine spoke. "Now, I'm begging you, put your weapon away."

I looked deep into his eyes and then back at the two teens. Then just shook my head. "You trust them? Really?" I asked out of breath. This was difficult. It felt like I was making a grave mistake again. "Letting vampires into my life is what took my life away. I want you to remember that." I told him, bringing eye contact back. He simply nodded as my shaking hands came down to my sides. I didn't put away the knife though, I kept it spinning in my hands.

"Please, sit. Everyone." Cross commanded politely. I took one of the two chairs across from him while Kaname took to other. Takuma stood by the door behind us, which made me even more uncomfortable. I didn't trust these guys at all, regardless of Headmaster Cross' opinion on them. I scooted my chair to the left a bit, moving as far away from him as I could. Not to necessarily be rude, but it was difficult to be around a pureblood ever since Shizuka.

Kaname made me extremely nervous. My hands shook as they twiddled the knife around in my lap, memories of Shizuka making it difficult to focus. The pureblood looked left towards me out of the corner of his eye. He obviously knew this was difficult for me, but he was a Pureblood. What did any of them care? As long as they could devour the life's of the innocent, they were happy.

"Akane, Kaname Kuran is also one of the leaders in the vampire world. I hope that's you'll show at least some respect to him. He is a good pureblood."

My eyes shot up to look at the Headmaster. "Excuse me?" I began. "But I don't need to show any pureblood respect. Maybe they should start respecting the sanctity of human life first."

"That's what this arrangement promotes, Akane. It shows that there is a way to live in peace between both vampires and humans-".

"Why is it so difficult for you to understand how completely reckless this is?" I interrupted. Frankly, tis whole situation just pissed me off.

"I assure you," Kaname began. " That the night class is extremely well behaved and cautious when it comes to being at Cross Academy. No one drinks blood while on campus and the two classes are almost completely separated throughout the day. I hope you will find the presence of the night class comforting at some point."

I simply looked away from him when he was done. Nothing I said could convince them that this was going to end in bloodshed.

After moments of silence I decided to speak. "Well, is that all?" I asked the Headmaster. He nodded in response and then added to his statement. "Unless you have anything you would like ask or share." He smiled.

I thought about Shizuka Hio. I thought about Ichiru. I thought about everything that had happened in the past few months leading up to this situation. It would be so much easier if I told them what had happened in that house and how I got here, but the truth was I just wanted it behind me. I wanted to forget about all this. Plus, there was no way in hell I was about to vent my life to a pureblood monster about another pureblood monster. There was no way.

"No." I responded after a moment. "I'm okay. I'll be leaving anyways when Yagari comes back, right?" I spun the knife one last time and placed it back in the holster, then stood. Kaname stood as well, which I found odd.

"Well, it was nice to meet you Akane." He said with a small smile. He then began to put his hand out to shake, but unknowing of that I flinched back. Everyone in the room stared at my hands lifted in front of me. "Oh." Was all I could manage ask I quickly threw them back down to my sides. Kaname's eyebrows raised as if he had figured something out.

"Uhm I have to go." I said and quickly exited the room without a goodbye. I silently cursed myself out in the hallway of the Headmasters home. That was obviously a test, he knew I would flinch. And now he knows something about Shizuka Hio. She wasn't very kind to her pets.

* * *

><p>Later that night I found myself wandering the grounds again. Prior, the Headmaster gave me new clothes. I now sported a black skirt and a red sweater. I had graciously thanked him and he told me that I should go shopping with Zero and Yuki tomorrow. I didn't know how I felt about this. I barely knew either of them and I couldn't let the Headmaster buy me clothes, it didn't feel right. But I suppose his nurturing fatherly side overcame my doubts and he forced me to agree.<p>

I looked around myself and smiled, I had finally gone so far into the forest that I had no idea where I was anymore. Thank God. This was the type of thing I needed at the moment. To be lost in something other than my thoughts. I continued to walk, my bare feet slipping silently through the grass.

Before I knew it I had sadly found a building again. I looked through one of the windows and noticed it was an empty classroom. I started turning the corner around the side of the building when I bumped into what felt like a wall, or I suppose the equivalent. Zero.

I tried to catch myself but fell down on my butt. "Ouch." I cried out, looking up at the pissed off boy with silver hair.

"What are you doing out here?" He demanded while sticking out his hand. I took it and dusted myself off, then grabbed my stomach in a bit of pain.

"I'm just waking." I replied. "What are you doing out here?" Zero frowned at me and showed me his badge on his sleeve. If features a red and white design that matches the red tie on his uniform. I had noticed Yuki sported an identical one, but never really thought anything of it.

"Disciplinary committee." He stated. "And you're not aloud out here at this hour, especially without an escort, vampire." I simply leaned against the wall, immediately uninterested with these silly rules. Of course I couldn't be out here, the vampires were too dangerous to allow night time walks. Now I understood the need for a disciplinary committee. It was so the night class wouldn't be able to hurt the day class, even if they tried.

I frowned at Zero, mostly for calling me a vampire though. It was the greatest insult, a reminder of what I have become. But at the same time I wondered if it hurt Zero just as much to know that he was one too. I just ignored the remark, not wanting to offend the teen thats already been through hell and back.

"Why are you helping these jerks by being on this committee?" I asked. I knew what happened to Zero and his family. Why in the world would he agree to this? It must have been like a slap in the face every time he saw that pureblood.

Zero darted his eyes away from mine. "It's not my choice." He told me. "I do it because Kaien asked me to. That's all there is to it." I shook my head at him. "So you agree with him? You think this ridiculous pacifism can actually work?" I questioned, a bit of annoyance creeping through my voice.

Zero looked me in the eyes now. "Of course not. Those monsters shouldn't even be on campus, let alone alive." He spoke.

I smiled at him now. "Good. Glad there is someone that is sane here." I paused and looked down for a moment. My thumbs began to twiddle a bit. I needed to get something off my chest, but how would Zero react? "I- I'm sorry about Ichiru." I told him. "A-and about Shizuka."

Zero's eyes widened but he stayed silent for a moment. Eventually he broke the silence. "You said to the Headmaster that it was your fault they got together. What did you mean?" Curiosity and anger laced his voice.

I sighed. I didn't want to share this with anyone, I wanted to put it behind me. But I could see Zero was hurting from this. Bags were present under his eyes that weren't there when I arrived. This must have been keeping him up at night wondering what happened to his precious twin brother after all these years. I felt as though I owed his at least a small explanation as to what happened.

"Like I said, Ichiru and I were friends when we were young. I had met Shizuka and didn't know what she was. T-they met through me..." I stated, almost covering my mouth at the end. That's the first time I said that out loud. "I'm so sorry. I know you must hate me and I don't blame you so if-"

Zero cut me off by grabbing my arms and pinning me up against the building. He forced me to stay down even though I used all my strength to push away. I squirmed under him as much as I could, looking for an out. But just as he appeared Zero was very strong and he effortlessly held me there.

"Goddamn it." He grunted. "Just tell me what happened to Ichiru. Please. All of it, no more of these broken up explanations. They only make all this shit worse." I stared into his lilac eyes. They were so deep. It was almost like they were bright and dark at the same time. Like they were naturally bright but with every sight of evil seen they lost their glow a bit each time. The same thing that I saw present in Ichiru when we were kids.

I tried to speak to Zero, tell him what had happened. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't bring myself to ruin the image of his perfect twin brother. The twin brother that was so full of life and love yet always suffering under his illness. So instead I focused on the matter at hand, my wound. "Zero please." I cried looking down out it. He immediately loosened his grip and let me off the stone wall, but didn't stalk off.

We were both quiet for another moment. "Would you go around telling complete strangers that only cared to use you as bait your whole life story? Well?" I demanded, forcing myself not to yell. "God damn it, Zero. I was trying to give you something, even if it was small it was something."

Zero began to breathe heavily and look around. I guess this situation was really upsetting for him, but he answered my question. "No, I wouldn't. But this doesn't only affect you."

At that moment I heard the bushes to my left rumble. My head shot in the direction of the noise, only to see nothing. "Did you hear that?" I questioned Zero, completely forgetting the topic at hand. "No," he responded. Hear what?"

I stayed silent for another moment and heard it again, only to see a figure move from it and begin walking towards the trees. The figure had hair identical to my own, but shorter. My heart stopped beating. _Mom?_ It couldn't be. My mother was dead. I saw her.

"Zero...d-did you see that?" I whispered. Zero looked confused. "No, what's the matter?" He asked.

Without responding I bolted towards the descending figure. How the hell did she get here? How did she survive?

"Akane! Hey, wait!" Zero called from behind. I heard him begin to follow me through the dense woods.

I swiveled right and left around tree after tree, trying to keep the figure in sight. My wound burned but I kept going, unable to think about anything else but getting to my mother. Suddenly the figure stopped running, her white, flowing clothes swaying around her. I came to an abrupt stop a few feet away.

I heard Zero stop a few feet behind me as well, panting from the long run.

"Mom...?" I whispered, out of breath. "Is that you?" Tears began to form in my eyes as I focused on the figures back.

"Akane, who are you talking to?" Zero pried. I turned to look at him. "What do you mean? You don't-," at that the wind blew and when I turned back around my mothers figure was gone.

"What?!" I began to cry. "No! Mom come back!" I began to spin around continuously, looking every which way she could have gone. "Please." I cried, covering my mouth. She was just here. Right in front of me. I know it was her. Where did she go?

Zero walked up and put his hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry." He whispered while I shook uncontrollably under his hand.

"I don't understand." I wept as I stared into Zero's lilac eyes. "She was here."

"Purebloods can do a lot of things." He began with a frown. "Even cloud our judgment."

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><p><strong>Well there you have it, Purebloods pt.2. I think the chapter flowed pretty well, but what do you think? Tell me in a review! :D<strong>

**Anyways, I started school again today, and guys, it's bad. There is so much work I think I might die. But I'm gonna pull through. I going to write every day during my online class and just do the online work on the weekends, so chapters shouldn't stop or be delayed. Honestly, as I write this story I like it more and more. It's just to much fun to write I suppose. I hope you guys started to see Akane becoming a bit more comfortable around Kaien, which is why she didn't censor herself to much around him during that meeting. Haha, I found that situation loads of fun to write, but editing it was a pain in the butt.**

**Second question, do you like this length of the story better then the previous? This rounded out to 100 shy of 4,000, which is a little disappointing because my goal was 5,000. So longer chapters, yay or nay? That was my intention for this story in the first place, but a second opinion on it wouldn't hurt. Welp, that's it. Thank you so so so much for reading this far, there will be more to come. **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Saturday

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><p>I awoke the next morning with the feeling of fire engulfing my throat. Flames spewed up and down my esophagus, making for a "lovely" good morning. I let out a groan and rolled a bit left, trying to find a position where the pain wasn't as noticeable. It didn't work.<p>

I completely opened my eyes and saw the true shine of the morning, light flooding in the window, birds outside chirping, the overall peacefulness of a Saturday morning. But sadly my vampire nature had other plans.

I threw myself into a standing position, grabbing my throat simultaneously. I clenched my teeth.

This was something I wasn't completely used to. When accompanied by Shizuka Hio and Ichiru, all I had to worry about was attacking Ichiru at moments of weakness like this. But Cross Academy was a whole different ball game. It was filled with humans, and to add to it, hunters. It was probably the worst situation I've been in so far.

I held my throat as I stood there, completely unaware of what to do. I tried to steady my breathing, but it just got more and more ragged as time progressed. I needed help, but who could I call that I wouldn't hurt? There were too many humans. Too many risks.

I tried to step towards the door but felt to much pain and decided to take a seat. I picked under the window, which was adjacent to my bed and directly in front of the door. I collapsed into a sitting position, bending my legs into my chest for comfort. I tried to focus on the light shining onto the hardwood floor as I now used both hands to hold my neck.

The fire began to spread, now reaching my lungs, stomach, and the wound that had engulfed my stomach not to long ago. I could clearly feel that it was healed now, but the price I payed was clear.

My body began jolting forward, but I held my ground and stayed sitting. I thought about calling Zero at this point, he was a vampire and a hunter, which means he would either know a way to help me through this or kill me on the spot. In all honestly both seemed better than losing control.

It was one of my fears. Losing my mind while being stuck in my body, helpless, witnessing the damage a monster could cause. It was the most painful thing anyone could go through. Becoming a Level-E was the one thing I feared the most, it even overcame my fear of Purebloods when it came down to it.

"Z-Z-Zero-!" I tried to call out. My voice was scratchy, but still pretty loud. There was a good chance someone heard it, but then again who was in the house? He lived in the boys dorms as a student, why would he be here this early?

Minutes passed and no one arrived. I tried to stay calm but couldn't, the pain was excruciating. I grabbed the side of my hair in agony and frustration. In addition I found myself biting my lip, trying not to lose control. I could get through this. I just needed something to distract me from the pain. From the lust for blood.

I began to put my focus on other things, specifically the paintings that I used to work on with my mother. It always helped me get through tough times like this one. I thought about mixing colors to find the perfect shade for our portraits. I thought about sketching out the design lightly on the canvas. I could feel my muscles relax slightly, but the fire still burned on.

Just as I was getting a grip on things the door opened. The Headmaster barged in with Yuki at his side. I looked up at them with my glowing red eyes and messy hair. Their eyes grew huge at the sight of me, their smiles quickly disappearing. Yuki froze, unsure of what to do. She just stared straight into my glowing orbs, mesmerized by them. "I'm so-rry," I stuttered, trying to apologize for the trouble I've caused. The Headmaster immediately whispered something to Yuki and ushered her out. She retreated from the room as ordered. He then shut the door and approached me.

I sat still on the floor, gripping my neck and now the bottom of my shirt.

"Don't!" I cried out at him. He couldn't come near me. I didn't want to hurt him. I slammed my head back onto the wall. "P-please g-go-!" I tried again, ending the sentence with a cry of distress.

Headmaster Cross kept advancing towards me, ignoring my wish. I could handle this if he would just leave. I shut my eyes again and tried to focus on anything but his heart beat. With every step closer I felt worse and worse. He needed to back up before I lost it.

The door opened again and my eyes shot up at the aura of a vampire. I saw Zero standing in the doorway with a glass of water in hand. His lilac eyes looked concerned, but he kept his free hand near the middle of his jacket. It was where he kept his gun.

"Thank you, Son." Cross told him. Zero handed him the glass and stared at me, trying to decide whether to exit or not. He stepped back near the door again, obviously finding difficulty in this decision. I wanted him to leave more than anything, but couldn't get the words out. The fire was spreading faster and faster and I could hear Yuki's heart beating across the house. I wanted it. I wanted her.

"Akane." Cross began. "Look at me." I shut my eyes in response. I couldn't look at him, I might lose it if I did. I let out low moans in response to him. _Leave._

"Akane." He said once again. He moved closer and I couldn't help but open my eyes. I slowly looked up, trying to keep eye contact with him. Trying to avoid his neck. But I faltered and my eyes dropped to it for a split second. I shut my eyes again as the thought of blood made me jolt. I cried out again and covered my face.

It was such a disgusting thing to want. It was wanting the life in someone for yourself. What a selfish way to live.

"Akane, this will help. I dissolved some tablets into this water, please take it."

I attempted to slow my breathing once again as I moved my hands away from my face. I noticed the water was now red. What kind of tablets made water red? What kind helped vampires?

I tried to reach my shakey hand out. It took a moment, but I soon felt the cool glass touch my hand. I brought it down to my mouth without hesitation and chugged, the ache clouding my judgement. In a couple of seconds the glass was empty, and I let it drop to the ground, thankfully not breaking given I was sitting on the floor. The substance didn't in any way resemble something satisfying. It tasted like dirt in a liquid form.

The pain crept away, and by the 10 minute mark it was completely gone. I opened my eyes, my body still shaking from the attack. I saw the Headmaster sitting across from me with a small smile plastering his face. Like he was sort of proud of me for making it.

"Thank you." I whispered, looking down at the floor. My throat was sore from the fight. I began to play with the bottom of my black pajama tank top, another nervous habit.

"Anytime." He smiled, picking up the glass.

I looked behind him and noticed Zero had left, at what point I had no idea.

"What...what did I just drink?" I asked. Cross thought about the answer for a second.

"They are tablets developed by the Night Class to keep back thirst, Blood Tablets. They are like a replacement for blood. You just dissolve them in water." He pulled a small red and black box out of his pocket and handed it to me. I slid the top of the box to the side to find it full of circular white pills. I shut it and looked up at him. "You can use these whenever you need, but if you start using them more than once a day you should come see me. That could indicate a problem."

I looked up at the blonde man, he reminded me of my father the way he spoke. "Thank you," I muttered to him. I stood up slowly, tired from what had just occurred. I couldn't help but shake on the way up. The Headmaster did the same thing, except with more strength. He turned to leave when he hesitated at the doorway.

"Oh Akane," he said with a goofy smile on his face. "Remember you said you would go shopping to get some adorable clothes with Yuki and Zero today!"

My jaw dropped at his words. "Are you crazy-!" I started.

"A promise is a promise!" He cried out. Then he ran off, like a child playing a game. All I could do was get ready for a day out on the town.

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><p>The Headmaster had been gracious enough to allow me a few hours of rest between my little attack and the trip into town, but sadly it didn't feel like long. Yuki had come in my room and woken me from my nap with a sweet smile, but I was too exhausted to smile back. My head weighed a ton, and it seemed that only time was making it feel better.<p>

We found ourselves walking into the beautiful town. The area mimicked old charm, though the shops inside the buildings were modern and fresh.

"Where do you want to go first, Akane?" Yuki asked. I looked at her and then Zero. He had been silent through this whole outing, making things awkward to the highest degree. Did he think less of me because of what happened earlier?

I continued to look down, forgetting to answer. "Akane? Are you okay?" She tried again, a concerned look covering her face.

I quickly shot my head up and straightened my navy white skirt. "Oh. Yeah I'm fine. Sorry, I just zoned out a bit." I explained. "What stores do you recommend?"

Yuki smiled and put her finger to her temple. "Hmmm." She thought. She began studying what I was wearing, a white skirt with a black lace top, another outfit picked by the Headmaster. "Well your style seems like it would match this place right down the block." She decided. Yuki wore a pink sundress with bright flowers on it. Our styles were a bit different I suppose. I noticed Zero had the same thing on as the other day, a pair of jeans and a T-Shirt. I suppose he went for comfort above all else.

"Lead the way." I encouraged Yuki with a smile. She did so, walking us down the busy street and to the right. We found ourselves in what looked like the center of town, a huge building standing tall and an elegant fountain accessorizing the front. The water ran in a calming way while small children ran around and tossed coins into the water.

"Wow, this place is beautiful." I told Yuki as I followed.

"Yeah," She started. "They keep this part of town nice." This part of town? Was there a bad part? Yuki held the shop door open and Zero and I entered. Within an hour Yuki and I had checked every rack top to bottom. We found a decent amount of outfits and Yuki used a card the Headmaster gave her to pay.

"Your father is awfully big-hearted for doing this for me. I don't know what to say." I told Yuki. It was true, this was such an amazing thing he did. Not only did he take me in, even if forcibly, but he also gave me the resources I needed.

Yuki grinned at the thought. "Yeah, he's always doing stuff like that. Ever since the Headmaster took me in at a young age he has been so caring. It's in his nature." Out of the corner of my eye I even noticed Zero giving off the smallest smile. I guess he couldn't help but think of some good when Kaien Cross came to mind.

"Okay!" Yuki announced. "It's time for dinner! I know this amazing cafe." She marched away again and Zero and I followed behind her, walking next to each other for the first time today.

I couldn't deal with this silence anymore, it was deafening. "Hi." I let out, looking up at Zero. He looked at me from the corner of his eye. "Hello." He responded.

I frowned but decided not to give up. "You've been quiet. Are you okay?"

Zero looked at me, his face blank. He slowed down a bit. "Are you?" He questioned.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"You know exactly what that means. I'm not trying to be rude, not this time anyways." He corrected. I tried to lighten up a little bit. I guess this was the way Zero acted concerned, even if he was horrible at it.

"Oh," I stuttered. "Well I'm fine. You didn't have to bring that up you know. It doesn't matter."

"Whatever." He shrugged. "Thats the last time I'll give a damn." Then he picked up his pace again. I followed, cursing myself for being such a jerk to Zero when he was actually trying for once. I had been doing so well with befriending Yuki today, but I suppose Zero was just too different from her. We couldn't bond over clothes or common interest. The only thing that we could talk about was Ichiru and Shizuka, and that seemed like his only interest. In my case, it was the only thing I didn't want to talk about.

But I guess in the end it didn't matter. I would be out of here as soon as possible, running from my cruel fate like before.

Before we knew it we were all sitting in a booth at the cafe Yuki was talking about. Her and I sat on one side of the booth while Zero sat on the other with the shopping bags. We browsed the menu silently. I finally felt the full effects of exhaustion wash over me, though thankfully my headache was gone. I decided on a half cut cuban sandwich. Our waitress, a teen with short red curly hair, approached our table. "What can I get ya?" She asked with a smile.

"Uhm, I'll take a caesar salad and a Pepsi, please." Stated Yuki. The waitress nodded and turned to Zero. "And for ya-. Hey, ya' look familiar. Ya' come here a lot? Or do ya' live in the area." She asked him.

Zero was about to answer, but before he could Yuki jumped in. "We all go to the school around here, Cross Academy." She smiled. At her words the waitress' eyes light up. "Cross Academy?!" She began. "Ya' mean like the school with the night class?! I love them!" She cried, swinging her arms as she spoke. The teen was beaming now, completely forgetting to take the rest of our orders.

I looked over at Zero, who never seemed angrier. "Well?!" The red head started again. "Ya' know them?! Do ya?!" At her question Zero got up and stormed out of the restaurant, making a couple people stare. "Zero!" Yuki called after him, trying to move around me to get out of the booth.

"It's okay Yuki, you stay here, I'll go get him." I promised. I left the restaurant in pursuit, turning left like Zero had just moments ago. I walked down the unfamiliar streets keeping my eyes peeled for a silver haired boy. How stupid could Zero be, pulling this crap? He should have just sucked it up and answered that delusional waitress himself. Then we wouldn't be in this mess.

After about ten minutes of walking around aimlessly the sun began to set, casting an orange and pink glow on the buildings. I had taken a few other turns and now found myself lost, no one around to help. The old styled buildings now clashed together, all looking the same and making this harder than ever. "Zero!" I called out in frustration. This little stunt was so inconsiderate.

In the distance I heard the sound of something crashing, and decided to follow the sound. It lead me to a narrow alley way in between an abandoned bakery and an apartment building. After turning down a random alleyway I found Zero there, having a stare off with a red eyed vampire.

A level-E. I quickly grabbed a knife from the holster under my skirt, going into a guard stance. Zero just stood there, gun pointed at the monster, the beast frozen as well.

The former human was a man, probably in his early twenties. He had dark brown hair that was covered in dirt and blood. He wore a torn and stained blue jacket and black jeans. He was shaking where he stood, like he was having trouble just standing there. He was probably to mad to even hold a conversation like a decent person.

Zero's eyes kept jumping from me to the monster. "Who's this?" The man teased, gesturing me. His voice was raspy and broken up. Blood even dripped from the corner of his sadistic smile.

What was Zero waiting for. He needed to shoot him before he was on the move again. "Zero," I pleaded. I kept my stance and gripped my knife till my hand was the color of an apple. "Shoot him. Now."

Zero grunted. "Shut up." He ordered me. His lilac eyes kept jumping between us like he was deciding who to shoot. At one moment I thought he was going to shoot himself.

"Zero." I tried again. Zero looked at me, and faster than a flash a of light the vampire moved towards him. He charged Zero, tackling him to the ground.

Zero and the beast rolled around in the cobblestone alley fighting for dominance. One moment the level-E was on top, the next Zero. It was nerve racking. I held my knife up in a throwing position, couldn't get a good shot. They were both moving as one big blob, kicking the crap out of each other on the cobblestone ground.

"Zero!" I cried out, the worst possibilities coming to mind. "Get him on top so I can get a shot!" At my words Zero did the opposite. I saw him use all his strength to slam the monster to the left of their battle. He then stuck his knee in his gut and pointed the gun at his head. After a second of hesitation, Zero looked away and shot the creature.

It's wailed cry rang through the air as the glowing eyed man turned to black dust. The wind began to scatter the remains of the poor soul. I slowly lowered my knife back into its holster, now actually considering the depth of the situation.

Zero couldn't pull the trigger. I thought he was a hunter, what the hell?

Zero slowly approached me. He towered over me where we stood. "You're not supposed to be out alone you idiot." He commented. All I did was frown in response. There was nothing I could say to Zero at the moment that wouldn't offend him, but I took the chance in the end anyways.

After seconds of silence I decided on what to say. "Why didn't you take the shot when you first had the chance?" I made the question as innocent as possible, not wanting to offend him.

Zero was silent as he brushed past me and lead the way back to the main road. "Thats none of your business." He told me. I stared at Zero as we walked back into the shopping district. Was he afraid of killing th level-E? Maybe he saw the obvious, what every former human saw. Their future.

Though my knowledge on vampires was limited, everyone knew one simple fact. If you were a former human you will drop to level-E one day. You would become a bloodthirsty maniac, unable to control your own actions. And the worst part of it all is, at that point, you'll be praying for a hunter to kill you. Just to escape it all.

"I understand, I guess." I spoke. "It's hard not to look at them like that I guess." Zero raised his eyebrows. "Like what?" He wondered. I noticed we had slowed down from walking a little bit, focusing more on the conversation now. I didn't know what to tell Zero.

I didn't want him to get upset and storm off again. I thought he would just take what I said in his own way. "I don't know, Zero. Like," I began stumbling over my words. "Zero, if I know one thing it's that when I saw that level-E I felt sympathy for him. But I also felt sympathy for myself." I began to whisper the words now, unable to say them with full force. "Zero, to me it's like a look into the future. Into the unavoidable. And I think you saw it that way too. Bu-"

Zero cut off in front of me and looked me directly in the eyes. His eyes were remarkable, shining off the full moon. "You don't know shit about me." He forcefully corrected. He turned and walked into the cafe that I hadn't even noticed we were outside of. I looked inside through the window and saw Yuki jump up and hug Zero, only to punch him after. Zero grabbed the shopping bags and began to walk out, Yuki protesting while following.

As the door opened Their conversation filled my ears. "Oh Zero! You're so mean!" She cried. Zero simply kept walking, not in the mood for Yuki's antics, obviously. "Let's go," he grumbled as he walked past me. I did as I was told and went.

After the walk back to the academy Zero walked Yuki and I to the Headmaster's campus home and then left immediately. Headmaster Cross emerged from the kitchen as we walked in. "Hello!" He welcomed arms open. Neither Yuki or I fulfilled his wish for a hug, which was upsetting to him. The Headmaster then began going through all my bags, announcing how cute all the clothes were and even at one point hugging me. I thanked him over and over again for his hospitality and then retreated to my temporary bedroom, needing some space.

I was probably in the room for a good 3 minutes before I climbed out the window. I had always had nights like this, even when I was happy. Nights that I would just wander around and then find my way back to where I started. It was comforting for some odd reason.

This time I went left, losing myself in a whole new set of woods that looked exactly the same as all the rest. The full moon shimmered down, making me smile at the sight.

I had always found that funny. Not the moon, the fact that even though my life could be complete crap at the moment the moon would still crawl out at night and the sun would still wake me up in the morning. It's like when you're listening to music and something bad happened, but the music still plays. It doesn't know of the horrible event that just occurred. It doesn't know about all your troubles. It just keeps doing what it's supposed to do, and that's be heard.

My mind was so occupied with this one thought that I didn't even notice where I had found myself. A barn. It was painted white and red, traditionally. The door on the front had a small crack open, like someone had recently been there. I looked around, seeing no sign of anyone. What was a barn doing on campus anyways?

I decided to enter, not about to let an adventure slip through my hands. I opened the door and entered. The barn was silent except for the breathing of animals. I walked to the left and found a white horse. It's coat was beautiful, healthy looking even without proper light. The horse let off a soft noise as I approached. I reached my hand out to give it a pet when, out of nowhere, I was thrown to the barn floor.

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><p><strong>Hello! I spent all week working on this chapter, so I hope you all enjoy it! I will be volunteering a lot now that school it back, so if I'm late a day or two here and there please don't hate me! It's for a good cause I promise. Anyways, this chapter was the "long" length I have been aiming for since the beginning, so thank you so much for the review about the length of the chapter. Thank you for the reviews in general! Though there have only been a few, I still truly appreciate people taking the time to say something about this story. So review if you can! I love input, I feel like it makes me a better writer. Maybe I'll start putting a question every update for you guys to answer about the story? It'll be completely opinion based of course. I might do that next update. :)<strong>

**Thank you immensely for looking at my words! Have a lovely day!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: What Was Seen

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><p>Upon landing on the cold hard barn floor I let out a wince. I looked up at the attacker, the white horse that I momentarily thought was my friend. "Bad horse." I told her. She only stood there, giving me the scariest look an animal has ever given an innocent.<p>

I looked around the barn from my new seat on the ground and noticed something I wasn't expecting. Zero was laying on a pile of hay right next to the monster of a horse, fast asleep. I sucked in air at his sight, like it would make me quieter. How I hadn't noticed him there before was beyond my level of intelligence.

I was puzzled at the sight of Zero asleep. His hair fell in front of his normally hard his eyes and his chest slightly moved up and down. He wore what he had on earlier, only a black jacket in addition.

He seemed so peaceful and innocent when he was asleep. It would be hard to believe that this very teen killed a person only a few hours ago. It would be even harder to believe that it was his job to kill, and that he seemed to love it and hate it at the same time. As Zero slept his hands twitched a bit along with his eyes, like he was seeing something vivid in his dream.

I wondered what a boy like Zero would dream about. Friends from school? Old memories? But then it hit me. He wouldn't undergo dreams. At least not all the time. Anyone that has dealt with the wrath of a Pureblood is bound to have nightmares more often than not. I sympathized for the boy. I knew what it was like to attempt sleep after watching my parents die. It was something no one could ever cure. Nothing helped. Pills, remedies, exercise, sleep became exhausting. The very thing that was supposed to give you time off from all my problems had become something to be feared. And fearing the night was a terrible thing, because you could never avoid it. I just wondered if it was the same for Zero, if sleep haunted him too.

I tried to decide whether to wake up the boy or just leave silently. Waking him up would mean getting yelled at, insulted, and then brought back to the Headmasters house. Leaving would entail a longer walk, more alone time, and less time stuck in that house. My choice was obvious.

I stood myself up as gracefully as humanly, or I suppose vampirely, possible. Then began backing my self out of the barn slowly. I was about to touch the door handle when the demon horse let out a loud cry, waking the boy.

Zero's lilac eyes shot open, first taking in the horse and then me. My jaw dropped as I tried to find an explanation for what I was doing here, especially while he was asleep, but I just couldn't find one. "Why are you always where you're not supposed to be?" He grunted, wiping the sleep off his face with his right hand. He slowly got up from the hay, small pieces of his makeshift cot falling from his clothing. Zero began petting the horse next to him, the demon horse that had gotten me caught. The animal seemed to calm down under Zero's gentle touch, which I found peculiar. What an unlikely set of friends.

"How can you pet it?" I asked. Zero looked up, as if he had forgotten I was there while he was petting the beautiful monster. He shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't even know. Maybe those are the best kinds of friendships, the ones that can't really be explained.

I was completely lost in my thought when Zero began walking towards the exit. As he walked by me and through the door he grabbed my arm and dragged me along with him. I was pulled out of the barn in a swift motion, like I weighed nothing compared to this silver haired body builder.

"Zero!" I cried out, squirming under his iron grip. It felt as though he was gonna snap my arm in half if I tried to pull away. I hadn't realized it till now, but Zero was strong. Skinny, tall, but strong. His athletic build was dragging me across the grassy area outside the barn.

I kept tugging away from the boy, trying to get out. This was all too familiar. Being dragged and pushed around helplessly. I couldn't handle the resemblance.

"_Fetch me a drink, Akane." Shizkua Hio whispered to me as she sat on her satin couch. We were in her mansion, hidden behind many trees, a forest so large not even I couldn't memorize it. Shizuka smiled at me as she hugged one of the three girls on the couch next to her and giggled. _

_She had always liked human company, and when she heard there was a school a few miles outside the forest she just had to "make" friends with the girls. The sight was sickening. I stood on the sidelines, against a wall next to an elegant fire place. The lit fire bounced off of the red walls of her living room. _

"_No." I responded in my stern voice. The guests all turned to look at me, shooting me pouty looks for my answer. I didn't need to do anything for this monster. She wanted to torture me for my actions, watching her manipulate innocent teenagers was torture enough. _

"_Akane." She snapped, her voice still graceful but now a bit more stern. "No need to be so rude. Drink." At her last word I felt a tingle in my neck, the same spot she had bit me a couple weeks ago. _

"_I said no." I shot back. I straightened the bottom of my short black dress Shizuka had given to me. It resembled something a maid would wear, only completely black and lacking a head piece. I saw it as a representation of my dark past, present, and future. Along with a reminder that I was hers, from the clothing to blood. It was disturbing. _

_Shizuka slowly stood from her seat, making my muscles instantly tense up. No. Please no. The woman pushed forward and grabbed my left arm, gripping it to the point where I had to bit my lip. "Be right back ladies," she told the guests. She began dragging me out of the room and into the hallway. I grabbed onto whatever I could in the hallway, trying to fight back. It was no use though, she moved swiftly, ignoring my almost silent whimpers. About five doors down from the living room is where she chose to enter, throwing me in like I was nothing. She entered as well and shut the door._

"_Why do you have to do this to yourself, Akane?" She began. "It's truly no fun." I made my way up from the floor, leaning against the foot of a bed frame. The room she picked was what she called "my room". Even though it would never be that. It was almost identical to the living room, painted red, fireplace, built in bookshelves. Only now it was accompanied by a queen sized bed and a paneled window that always had the blinds shut._

"_Why do you always get yourself into trouble. First, hurting Ichiru, then being disrespectful to me in front of my friends." She walked closer to me with every word, making me feel smaller and smaller with every passing second. _

_Not again. Please not again. I began to shake, unable to stop my bodies natural reaction to a Pureblood. Their power was unmistakable, and when directed at you even disturbing._

_Shizuka was now in front of me, pushing me back against the bed frame so I had no escape. She grabbed my hair and yanked it to the side like she always did. "I asked for a drink." The scent of blood filled the air._

Once I started hyperventilating Zero let go of my arm. "Hey, what's the matter with you?" He asked, putting his hands up proving he let go. I held my arm and began backing away from him, still to scared from the memory. Every time one came to mind I couldn't stop it. It just consumed me until it was over, making me relive the horror of each situation.

My heart beat like I just ran a marathon. I felt like I couldn't control it, I couldn't control anything. I backed up as far as I could from Zero till my back hit a tree. Then, I just turned and bolted. I needed to run. I needed to give my heart a reason to beat this way, it couldn't be because of her. Everything was already because of her.

"Hey!" I heard Zero call out from behind me. I could hear his foot steps tailing me, but I didn't care. He could shoot me for all I cared, as long as I would stop seeing them.

I swerved left and right, stumbling at some points from running so fast. I pushed air in and out of my lungs, forcing myself to keep going. I continued to run off my problems through the moonlit woods.

I soon found a stone path and decided to follow that, figuring no one would be out at this hour anyways. The sound of Zero's footsteps were still behind me. I looked back to see him pretty far away in the distance, but when I turned back forward the unexpected was standing in front of me.

Kaname Kuran was walking down the pathway towards me. I halted to a complete stop and considered another direction to run, but words escaped his mouth before I could make a break for it.

"Akane." He greeted, putting on another fake smile. I kept my distance from the Pureblood, absolutely not in the right state of mind to hold a conversation with him. Even if it was polite small talk.

"What?" I asked. I was panting as I stood there. Finally getting my heart to lose control for a good reason. "Out on a night run?" He pried, it was obvious this wasn't the intent of his presence. "Uhm...not exactly." I broke to him, still panting like a dog. Kaname tilted his head at my answer, and then as if just to throw him off more Zero ran up besides me.

"What the hell?!" He yelled at me. He looked up at Kaname and gave him a glare that said it all. Both the boys frowned at each other. What's that about?

"Lets go." Zero ordered, walking away this time instead of pulling me. I followed quietly, wanting to get away from Kuran as well, but obviously for different reasons. Kaname shrunk behind us, watching us might I add, as we continued on into the night.

As we were following the path to God knows where Zero began to ask questions about our current predicament. "What happened back there? When I grabbed your arm." I looked to my right away from the taller boy, not wanting to fully acknowledge the topic.

"I-I don't want t-"

"Don't give me that shit. What. Happened." Zero demanded. His voice was cold as ice. I could now see that I really pissed him off. I felt bad for him. He was going through so much and I got thrown onto his plate like an extra serving of steak. He couldn't do this alone. I decided to be truthful.

"Shizuka Hio wasn't the nicest host. Obviously." I let out a sigh and tried to look at the boy. "If you didn't do as you were told there was repercussions. When you grabbed me it just brought back some...stuff. I don't…" I trailed off, my hands shaking the slightest bit. Zero just nodded, knowing of her cruel ways. Silence filled the air till Zero broke it.

"Im sorry for grabbing you." He whispered. His words made me look up at him. Did he just apologize to me? "Uhm." I tried to respond. "It's- It's okay. You didn't know and it was just an innocent thing and I shouldn't have been out there." I mumbled on.

Hush fell between us as we walked the next couple feet.

"Zero. Do you sleep better in the barn?" Zero looked down at me, examining my hazel eyes. "Yeah." Was all he managed out. I nodded this time. I was right, sleep doesn't come easy for either of us. But who could blame us? No amount of sleeping pills in the world could ward off those nightmares.

"Does she still come to your dreams? Or do they just happen by themselves?" I continued. Zero looked down at me, giving me a look that said "you're pushing it." But he still gave me an answer anyways. "At first it was her coming to me, but over the years she stopped trying. I was just left with the memories after that." Now Zero looked me in the eye. "But since you came back she's been trying again. That's why you need to tell us what happened, so we can figure all this out." He frowned. Zero was still upset at me for hiding my past, but I couldn't help it. My goal was to let it go.

"Well once Yagari comes back I'll get to leave and you won't have to worry about Shizuka Hio ever again. I'll be her moving target." Zero sighed at my reasoning. I noticed the Headmasters house growing in font of us. How we got back there I had no idea.

"That's a stupid plan," Zero sighed as he ran his hand through his silver strands. I crossed my arms. "I don't care. It's better then that place. Shizuka Hio loves games, so I guess I'll give her one." Zero looked down at me with a puzzled look. "Games?" He wondered. I kept eye contact now, finally about to stop shaking. "Well, yeah. She loves them. I heard her countless time say that she was getting bored. When that happened Ichiru would do anything to make her entertained again."

Zero's eyes grew at my words. I guess he never knew where Ichiru's complete loyalty lied. I climbed the steps onto the porch of the Headmaster's house and opened the door, holding it open for Zero as well. We entered the abode and moved to the living room where the Headmaster was standing, pacing back in forth.

He threw his arms in the air and hugged me. "Where have you been?" He interrogated as he pulled away. I couldn't find the words. I was stuck between being surprised that he actually cared where I went and actually telling him the truth about it. I was choking till Zero stepped in. "I took her on a few of my patrols tonight, thought it would be different to have some company."

Cross' jaw dropped at the response. "You wanted a friend?!" He ran up to Zero now and hugged him, saying a bunch of goofy things in addition. Zero wasn't amused at all, he looked like he was going to puke at the simplest touch. "Get off of me." He let out. Headmaster Cross did as the boy told, frowning a bit though.

"Well, you should go to bed Akane. I have some important things to discuss with you tomorrow." Cross told me. I tilted my head a bit. "What important things?"

He looked at me like he didn't want to say, at least not yet. "Headmaster?" I tried again.

"Akane, you haven't provided us any information on Shizuka Hio. Now, I know you didn't want to attend classes, but, and I swear it wasn't my suggestion, the Association thinks that the addition of classes to you being here may help you become more comfortable, and even open you up a bit. So they are requiring that you start classes as soon as your wounds are healed, which they are."

My hands curled up into fists at my side. "No!" I yelled. "That's the stupidest thing I've heard of. Why would I need to prolong myself being here? They don't even have the right to do that. Why are they in control of your school?" This was ridiculous. They could make me stay here all they wanted, but they couldn't force me to do silly tasks like play school.

"Akane, you have to understand how vital this situation is. They are dealing with an unpredictable Pureblood that has no respect for the law. Normally, the association would be bringing you into their facility in town and extract the information from you in an inhumane way. This is the best I could get you." He reasoned. His face was stern and serious, where did the soft sympathetic man disappear to?

I sighed and considered the situation. Yeah, it was true this was better than getting dragged into some cell and forced to talk. But for them to think I was concealing this information for Shizuka? How insensitive. Initially, this "peaceful" way of life at the academy is supposed to end in me giving up the information on Shizuka. They had me cornered. I needed to make a move.

"What can I do to get out of this?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Akane, I am afraid you can't do anything." He sighed. I shook my head and responded with a low whatever. I was so sick of this life. This ruined life.

The Headmaster left the room after a couple minutes and went to bed, obviously uncomfortable with my reaction. Zero and I sat on opposite sides of the three person couch, watching the news displayed on the flat screen above the fireplace. I tried to focus on the news, hoping it would calm me down a bit.

"What happened to make you hate school?" Zero asked. I looked to my right and met his eyes. How did he know?

"I don't know what you're talking about." I whispered. I pushed myself up off the couch and was about to leave the room when Zero stepped in front of me. "Stop running." He ordered. "It's exhausting for everyone." Zero seemed tired, not only physically from all the running earlier, but mentally. He seemed to be barely able to smile at times, yet he still found all this energy in him to go to town all day and fend off a level-E and keep a strong front. Then go to bed every night without any chance of sleeping well and sift through the endless nightmares. It must become so mentally taxing for him, I would know. I admired him for that, for his strength. But something I could do without was his pushiness. I didn't trust easily, he needed to respect that.

I always had trouble trusting people. Ever since I was little I easily saw that people could say whatever they wanted and not mean it. I believe I first began to understand this concept when I was ten years old. I had always tried to make friends when I was young, but for some reason it didn't come easily to me. One day I was invited to the park with a group of neighborhood kids. They said they would meet me there, though they said it while snickering. I sat on the playground bench for four hours waiting for them to show up, they never was the first time I realized that words didn't mean a damn thing. It was a lesson that I had continually been reminded of my entire life. It was a lesson I didn't forget. Couldn't forget.

"Let me keep to myself. I don't need someone to sit around and listen to my problems when I'll just end up dealing with them by myself anyways." I responded. Pushing past Zero I made my way to my temporary room. I sat down under the window like I had been forced to by pain just this morning.

"I would talk to you about it, Mom." I whispered to her, though I knew she wasn't here.

I shut my eyes.

"_Ichiru!" I chuckled as my silver haired friend ran from me. Trees and darkness surrounded the boy as he joyfully sprinted. He was still young, like we both had been when we met. "Ichiru don't run from me!" I called to him as I followed energetically. _

_As seconds of playing chase passed I felt a tightness in my chest. It warned me of something, but I couldn't figure out what. "Ichiru. I seriously think we should stop!" I yelled to him. I couldn't hear Ichiru's young voice, but my dazed self knew he had said everything was fine. He kept pushing forward, despite my distress._

_Finally the trees ended and opened up into a field. The wind was blowing, making the tall grass sway uncontrolably. The sky was cloudy and black, like it was the middle of a stormy night. _

_Ichiru stood still in the middle of the field. I ran up next to him and saw his young face, preserved and innocent like I remembered. I stared at the huge lilac orbs and the shaggy silver hair. I had to stop myself from touching his simple button nose. I missed this boy, missed him so much tears fell from my eyes. _

_Ichiru tilted his head, like he was confused to as why I was crying. "I miss you." I whispered to him, answering the question that was never asked. _

_As the last word left my mouth the ground began to shake with loud booms sounding through the air. It sounded like stomping, being amplified by drums. I looked around me, examining the woods we had just left. They were pitch black, except for one portion. _

_Ichiru now faced a part of the woods that was slowly filling with red eyes. The eyes I had witnessed just hours before. Eyes that were punished to death. Level-E's. _

"_Lets go!" I cried to Ichiru, trying to tug him away from the beasts. But the boy wouldn't move. He just stared at them with a smile wide across his face. He seemed fascinated by the creatures that I knew were life threatening. I pulled on my friend violently now, unable to move him no matter what I tried. "Ichiru, please!" I cried harder now. He needed to come with me. I couldn't lose him again._

_Over twenty level-E's emerged from the trees now, all faceless except for their haunting glowing eyes. I began backing away from the crowd, away from Ichiru, when my back hit a brick wall. I turned to find a male pureblood, his dark hair covering all his features. His lengthy arms gripped my shoulders in front of him, forcing me to stay put._

_I squirmed in his large hands, trying to find a way out. My younger self couldn't though, he was too strong. Blood filled my vision as the dream faded away quickly._

I woke up screaming as tears streamed down my face. Lilac eyes were the first thing I saw before I covered my face with my hands.

Zero kneeled in front of me, gripping my shoulders just like the dark haired man had.

"Akane whats the matter?" He asked me, trying to get my hands off my face. I couldn't find the words, I just kept moaning broken up words out and crying, unable to explain the situation.

"Akane, please talk to me." He begged. I tried to form words through the tears, but found trouble. "Th-e-re's…" I tried to explain. "There's s-someo-n-n-e el-se." I warned Zero.

"Theres someone else…?" Zero repeated back. I could only look at him and nod. He seemed so confused but I couldn't get a hold of myself enough to explain. After consideration Zero's eyes lit up. "Someone else coming after you?" I nodded again at his correct guess. He deepened his glare.

"It's okay, you're safe here." He comforted. I shook my head no to the boy. I wasn't safe here. No one was. The man in the dream, he was powerful. He was a Pureblood, but he was different. He was working on hate, something that was far more dangerous than Shizuka's game.

Zero pulled me into his arms, making me freeze. I loosened up slowly, realizing how safe I felt in them. I hadn't been hugged like this since my parents had died, and I really needed it.

Seconds passed and Zero pulled away. "You need to lay down." He informed. He grabbed my arm and forced me the three steps it took to get to my bed. He pushed me by the shoulders into a sitting, then laying down position. I looked up at him from the bed, unable to stop shaking. "Just relax for the night," the silver haired teen ordered. He then turned to leave.

"Z-zero!" I whimpered. He turned back to look at me. I covered my face nervously. I was too afraid of what I saw to control myself. "Can you please stay?" I requested through the salty tears.

The teen looked confused for a moment but then nodded. He grabbed a wooden stool out of the corner of my room and brought it over to the edge of the bed.

I don't know how long it took, but I fell asleep staring into lilac eyes.

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><p><strong>Early update! Like, really early update actually. Well, if you're wondering why I'm posting this days before I should be it's because of a massive AP test I have on Wednesday. I spent extra time during the week working on this chapter so I could post it early just in case I'm a day or two late next week. Who knows though, I could totally ace the test and post this on time (there is a .1% chance of that happening).<strong>

**Question: Do you guys like Akane's flashbacks? Her dreams? **

**I personally love writing them, even though it makes me feel like I am giving you a crumb of the back story at a time, I feel like it's way more interesting then having Akane just spill her guts to everyone she meets. Plus, it gives you time to think about the past relationships and events that effected all the characters in the present. What do you think? **

**Thank you immensely for looking at my words! Have a lovely day!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Coming Clean

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><p>I awoke at four a.m. that day, or so my alarm clock told me. The red numbers projected at me, reminding me of two things.<p>

The numbers told me I sucked at sleeping, which I already knew. I had already sucked at sleeping before all of this mess. But ever since I met Shizuka it progressively got worse and worse. Even before she returned for me I would see Ichiru in my dreams, which was probably the most heartbreaking thing I've experienced, aside from losing my parents of course.

And the red, well the color red hadn't just been a color in what felt like forever. It was a symbol of my life now, stained with red. It was the color of everything I hated. From blood to Shizuka's livingroom walls to a monsters eyes. It was sickening, and in all honestly, I could never see the color as simply that ever again. It was ruined.

I stayed like that till about six a.m., thats when the man with straw hair entered my room. He knocked softly to be polite, but in all honestly I knew he wasn't expecting an answer. I wasn't in the mood to give him one anyways. He opened the door and stayed in the doorway.

"Akane?" He asked, tilting his head a bit. The Headmaster had a small smile on his face, which was something I needed right now. "Why are you up so early? Excited to start school?" He asked cheerfully. Thats when I realized that Zero hadn't told him about my break down last night. That meant he had no idea that there was more to it than just Shizkua Hio. That could be the only reason he was so innocently happy. To bad I had to ruin it.

I pondered why Zero hadn't told him yet. Even if he was asleep or it was early in the morning, it seemed like it was sort of his job to tell the Headmaster when there was something wrong. Even if he didn't support what the Headmaster was doing all the time, it would always be in his best interest to help him with whatever came up. Upon thinking about this, Zero's intentions became obvious. He didn't tell him because he wanted me to. I mean, it made sense I guess. Zero didn't know exactly what was going on, and this way I would have to explain everything to Cross. Everything leading back to meeting Ichiru. The story that I longed to keep mine for months now. It was the corner they had been waiting to back me into.

I felt a bit betrayed by this, like their intention this whole time was to use me for what I had been through and what I knew about this Pureblood. But when I looked up at the Headmaster standing at the door, whispering softly checking if I was okay, I knew this wasn't true. I knew Yuki and I were truly friends. I knew that Zero really did care about me, even if he wouldn't say so. At that I began to cry again. This made the Headmaster run over to the edge of the bed, sitting on the stool Zero had just occupied hours before.

"Akane, please talk to me." He begged. I shook my head and covered my face. My body shook again. My heart ached uncontrollably. It was time to explain. Time to explain everything. Time to lose the one image of Ichiru that was truly mine. I just had to find the words.

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><p>Hours later I found myself in the Headmasters office in the school building. It was still morning, the sun now at full rise. I was properly dressed now in a navy blue sundress. I had stopped crying a few hours earlier, the Headmaster had hugged me like my father would till I stopped. I told him I would tell him everything. He only nodded, unable to find the correct response.<p>

The office wasn't empty like normal, Zero stood against the wall to the right of me, I thought it was appropriate that he be here to hear exactly what happened to his brother. The Headmaster sat in his usual chair, papers stacked in front of him. My name was on all of them.

We sat there waiting, for who I had no idea. Headmaster Cross had only said that we needed to wait for an additional person to evaluate for the other side of the political process. I didn't understand what he meant by that, but I just let him do what he wanted. He knew what was best. Plus, I didn't want to have to do this twice.

My knee bounced up and down nervously. I had to find a way to calm down. I was just a child, I'm still a child. I didn't do anything wrong.

The familiar feeling of a Pureblood broke my eager thoughts making me grip the chair I was sitting on and hold my breath. What was Kaname doing here? It was completely insensitive for a Pureblood to be here during this process.

I turned towards the opening office door and frowned as I stood. "Whats going on here?" I demanded the Pureblood. Kaname's eyes widened in surprise. I guess he assumed I knew he was coming, when in reality I had no idea. I turned to the Headmaster sitting behind his desk and raised an eyebrow. "This is the other side of the political process?" I let out, almost to upset to speak.

Cross gave me apologetic eyes as he spoke. "Yes, Akane, it is. The hunters aren't the only side that matter. Vampires have a say in these processes too. Kaname is a respected vampire. He needs to be here to evaluate for the vampire societies records as well."

I let out a scoff. "Is that another way of saying that not only does the Hunters Association run your school, but him too?" I threw an accusing thumb behind me towards Kaname, pointing. Headmaster Cross shook his head to disagree. "Akane, you know very well thats not the case. But there are rules with things like this-" "Rules? How about we follow the rules when his kind does too?!" I yelled at him.

The room went silent at my remark, Zero shifted in his spot. I know he agreed with me, but he remained silent anyways. He knew it wasn't his place to speak.

Kuran's kind got away with whatever they wanted. They could kill innocent people without any penalties. They had too much power for their own good. Kaname broke the silence from behind me, I turned to face him as he spoke. "Akane, I assure you this information will remain classified. I'm here as an unbiased individual, regardless of who I'm representing."

Kaname's brownish red eyes swallowed my attention, making me focus and hang on every little word he had said. This frustrated me further. It was an unintentional thing his presence could do, and it never ceased to piss me off. I turned away, shaking my head no simultaneously. "No." I stated simply, my orbs burning into the Headmasters. He looked down at his desk sorrowfully, then back up at me. "Akane, please, I am personally asking you to let Kaname hear your story."

I was so done with this. So done with all the problems and policies and the bloodshed. So done with being undermined by these authoritative figures that have never been in the position I'm in now. It was almost laughable how done I was. I even let out a small chuckle. "You know what, what the fuck." I whispered. "It doesn't matter anymore. I have no chance with those two Purebloods out there." Kaien's eyes widened at my words. "What are you talking about?" He asked, staring me down with curiosity.

I had forgotten till now that I needed to tell him that too. I let out a tired sigh and slid back down into the chair. I looked at Zero, who gave me a nod of support, and then back at the Headmaster. "Last night I had this dream. I was chasing Ichiru through the woods when we found ourselves in a clearing. There was a bunch of level-E's coming out of the forest surrounding us, coming out to attack us. I backed into this Pureblood when I tried to run. He was really tall and…" I stopped. And he had dark hair. I froze in my seat. Could that Pureblood from my dream have been Kaname? I looked up at Zero with my mouth dropped open. His expression now did the same. With a swift motion he pulled out the Bloody Rose gun. The gun was aimed hatefully at Kaname Kuran, who was holding his hands up in response.

"Zero!" The Headmaster exclaimed as he jumped out of his seat. "What are you doing?" I stood and turned to the brown haired teen.

Zero shook his head at the Pureblood raising his hands in innocence before him. He then nodded at me, telling me to continue speaking.

"H-he was really tall…" I continued. "And he had dark hair. Like yours." I found myself shaking now, seriously concerned for my safety. If Kaname was working with Shizuka Hio then me staying here was apart of the plan the whole time. I was set to die at Cross Academy from the very beginning.

Kaname sighed and started. "You truly think I am working with Shizuka? Thats absurd, Akane. I would never support a Pureblood like herself, she's reckless."

In response I slowly pulled a knife out of under my dress and spun it in my hand. "Prove it." I ordered him. Headmaster Cross was next to me now, not stopping me or encouraging me. Maybe he questioned Kaname's intentions now as well.

"I could never have worked with her and you know that." He slowly lowered his hands. "I believe the fact that I've been present at the academy this whole time is enough proof. I don't need to prove anything else." He shot Zero a glare that scared me a bit. It was full of annoyance, which to me was to unpredictable.

"Akane," Kaien cut in. "He isn't working with Shizuka Hio. If there were ever any ties between the two the Association would have noted it, which they haven't. Plus, he in fact has been here the whole time, he didn't even leave for vacation last year, he decided to stay." I looked at the man with glasses and lowered my knife at his words, completely trusting his information. He would never lie to me, I knew that.

"Zero, put your gun down." Cross tried. Zero looked at him with eyes full of utter hatred. He lowered the gun bitterly.

Kaname now entered the room completely and took the seat next to me, I shrugged away as I had before. The Headmaster returned to his seat and let out a tired sigh. I felt for the man, he lives in an ocean of tension. It's deep and endless.

He lifted a pen off the desk and then looked up at me. "Akane. Lets begin. Tell me, in detail, where did you first meet Ichiru, and how did that encounter involve you with Shizuka Hio?"

The way this was worded bothered me. It made it sound like Ichiru, Shizuka, and I were business partners with no emotions towards each other at all. It was such an impersonal way to conduct this, but I guess that's whats this has come to.

I took one last look around the room and then let my eyes fall to my lap. I slid the knife I had just had out seconds ago from the holster once more, holding it for comfort now. It was the last thing my father ever gave to me. It gave me strength and security.

"Uhm. I first met Ichiru at a hospital as kids. As you know, he was very ill, as was I. We were both in the waiting room day after day, week after week, so I introduced myself. We would play together when we could and hold each other's hand when we couldn't. After we were friends for a while, we started hanging out outside of the waiting room. While Zero was at school we would have playdates sometimes. They were pretty broken up though because of the family being busy vampire hunters, but I didn't know that at the time, or even care for that matter. He was my first friend. That's all that mattered to me."

"Probably a year passed before I met Shizuka. My parents had taken me to the park one afternoon and I ventured out into the forest surrounding it. I found myself at a cherry blossom tree surrounded by normal forest trees. She was sitting on the ground under it, crying. I asked her why she was crying and she told me it was because the person she loved was taken away from her. I would come to find that was her motive for hurting the Kiryu family."

"I went back to that park every Friday I was healthy enough to with my parents, and each time I would go see Shizuka. I didn't know what she was or what she was planning, but I remember how her eyes lit up when I would tell her about Ichiru. After a while she proposed an idea, invite Ichiru to come play with us too. I took the bait without thinking twice. My only two friends befriending each other? That was all I ever wanted."

I let out a sigh and looked up at Zero. His hair was covering his eyes as he leaned up against the wall. I couldn't see the expression on his face and I didn't want to. Though I was curious I probably couldn't handle a hurt expression from the silver haired teen. Kaname sat next to me silent, eyeing me as I spoke, I dealt with the discomfort. I had to. Headmaster Cross sprawled down what I had said at lightning speeds, not even stopping while I was silent.

I let out one last deep breath and began once again. "So I did as I was instructed to do. I asked Ichiru if he wanted to come to the park with us. Next Friday he and I felt well enough to go to the park. So we did. I introduced my two friends under the cherry blossom tree and they instantly had a connection. I- I don't understand why Ichiru didn't know what she was, but he didn't for some reason and-."I stopped the thought and pushed on.

"After that things changed. We would go to the park and talk about our families and play games, but, it was different now. Ichiru stopped talking about his family in a bright light. He-" I cut off, unsure if I could continue. "I-Im sorry. But he said that they didn't care about him anymore, and that soon even his brother would leave too. I didn't know that you guys were twins or anything, and I didn't understand why he would say his family was leaving him. I tried to snap him out of it, but he never listened. He was convinced no one but Shizuka and I loved him anymore."

"That's when he started idolizing Shizuka Hio. He didn't know what he was doing, he was feeding her incentive. She would hug him when he was down and listen to his endless complaints. She made him feel important I guess. Meanwhile, I was just stuck watching it happen. There was no way to stop losing my friends. I didn't want to tell an adult because I knew somewhere deep down that if I did they wouldn't let us see Shizuka anymore, and I knew that would hurt Ichiru to much to bare."

I started breathing heavily now, unable to get the haunting memories out of my head.

"T-Thats when we got the call." I choked out. I looked up at Zero who wouldn't raise his gaze from the floor. I wish he would look at me now, so I could say I was sorry to him. Endless I'm sorries for endless pain.

"Someone called the house." I shut my eyes as I spoke and let the tears fall. My voice shook more and more with every word. "I remember my mother and father sitting me down on the couch. They were crying, and before long I was too. Someone had called them and explained the whole situation to them. Purebloods, hunters, and Ichiru's family. They told me everything, I was going to find out some how anyways. I didn't know what to believe anymore. I mean, you spend your whole life telling kids the monsters under their beds aren't real. Well, thats bullshit because they are, but they are disguised as humans."

"We moved towns after that. I wouldn't leave the house, I wouldn't eat, I couldn't sleep without being hidden. I couldn't really handle that town anymore. We left to a smaller town a while out."

"Years past after that. I became healthy fairly quickly and was told I could attend public school." I spun the knife in my hand slower now. "I was in highschool for a while before things started happening again. I would be walking down the hallways and see someone with silver hair like his. I would chase it all I could but he would always slip away somehow. Sometimes he would turn a corner and flash me a glance, just quick enough so I could see his unmistakable eyes. It started to drive me mad. So the next time I saw him I sprinted through the halls after him. He ran out of the building and chuckled, the same laugh he used to have. He lead me down an alley and then finally showed himself completely. It was Ichiru, we were both older, but it was definitely him."

I looked up at everyone again, meeting Kaname's eyes by mistake. They held no sympathy, like they were analyzing every word that spilled from my mouth. I despised it. I shuffled in my chair.

"He didn't let me speak or ask questions, no matter how hard I had tried to. He just told me that he was apart of something big and that I had to go with him, otherwise I would never see him again. He had this confident smile on his face, like he knew I was going to say yes, but I didn't. I shook my head no and told him I couldn't leave my parents. I begged him to stay but he started crying and whispering things. Like he couldn't even control himself because of my answer. He disappeared after that. He ran away and I tried to chase him but I couldn't."

"A couple days later I payed for my answer." My hands now shook wildly. I tried to stop it but they wouldn't obey. I continued with an equally shaky voice. I didn't care anymore. It was too late to be brave. "We were all home one afternoon. I was upstairs grabbing paint for my mother while she and my father were downstairs. I was calling out to them and they wouldn't answer. And th-" I bit my lip and closed my eyes again. One hand was holding my neck where Shizuka mercilessly ended my life, the other gripping the chair. "Y-you have that in another report, right? I don't need to-"

Headmaster Cross cut in for the first time, taking a break from writing. "That's alright Akane. Just skip it." He softly nodded at me, like I would break in half if he did anything else. It was true though, I probably would have. I could barely handle this as it was, but talking about my parents was to much.

I forced myself to stop crying as much as possible so I could continue my tale. "That's when it got really bad. Shizuka...attacked us… because I hurt Ichiru. He loved her and she wanted him happy, even if he was just her pet. I woke up in her mansion, and was forced to spend the next few months there. She was beyond cruel, I think it was mostly because of her injury. She had gotten hurt somehow and was still recovering. But that didn't seem to make her much weaker when it came to everyday things."

"I refused to obey her, and to her it was like some sort of game. Like she was just seeking entertainment. She would force Ichiru into town to get her friends, and just manipulate them constantly. She was abusive, forcing me to drink from them when she was bored. Punishing me for silly things. It was hell. I couldn't stay. I asked Ichiru for help, he was there witnessing it all. But he refused every time, like I had committed an unforgivable crime against him."

I pulled my dress down a bit more, wary of the scars that lined my torso and stomach. All from the Pureblood's rage.

"One night Shizuka was having a gigantic party, there were probably 300 people in her mansion, around every corner and in every room. I chose to make my escape that night. I walked out the front door and got to the last step before Shizuka and Ichiru emerged from the front door as well. That's all I remember before I came here. I know they attacked me but...I just can't find it in my head. I guess I escaped." I sighed, finally wrapping up my life story. I could feel my eyes were puffy and red and I still couldn't stop shaking. I just stared at my feet, done.

"Akane, thank you." Kaname stated. Cross followed with a thank you as well, still jotting things down on the multiple sheets of paper. Zero left the room without a word, he probably hated me for introducing his brother to her. I wouldn't blame him if he never spoke to me again.

The Headmaster finished up his writing and handed a few documents to Kaname. The vampire accepted them and excused himself from the office. I just sat there, unable to force myself up.

The images kept flashing through my mind one after another. All of them were horrific. Each time I thought I wouldn't have to witness these scenes again they flashed through my mind once more, making me lean forward in my chair and hold my head.

The Headmaster stood from his seat and made his way around his desk. "Akane." He sighed, placing a gentle hand on top of my bent over back and rubbing it comfortingly, "Akane, you are so brave. Thank you so much for doing this. Now we can use this information to capture Shizuka Hio. Now there is undeniable proof that she committed a crime and needs to be punished for it."

I forced myself to sit up and look at the kind man in the eyes, but could only shake my head no. "I- I can't stop seeing all of it. A-a-and getting her wont h-help. There's two of them, Headmaster."

He looked down and frowned. "You can't say that, Akane. You can't give up on yourself like that. There is still so much hope."

I couldn't believe that. My parents were dead, Zero's parents were dead, Ichiru was delusional, and Shizuka's game was just getting started. This was a situation that contained no hope, just bloodshed.

I don't know how long I sat there, but I sat staring out the window as the Headmaster walked in and out of the office dealing with business for the rest of that day. I saw the sun move from one end of the sky to the other, and I didn't even flinch.

Once it was completely dark out the Headmaster entered once again. "Akane. Lets get you back to the house." He told me softly. I didn't flinch until he touched my arm, thats when I actually realized he was there. I stood and unhurriedly followed. Soon we were back at the house, where I was offered dinner at least 30 times. I refused every offering, knowing if I ate right now I would probably throw it up.

Yuki was there, sitting on the couch watching TV. She hugged me tight, but I didn't hug her back. I was too drained to even totally acknowledge her presence.

I made my way through the hallway that wasn't my homes hallway and entered the room that wasn't my real bedroom. I stripped out of my navy sundress and left it on the floor, then made my way to the wardrobe. I chose some short pajama pants and a black hoodie. After dressing I rolled onto the plush bed and through the covers over my head, letting my face have a small hole that showed me the outside world I loathed.

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><p><strong>Hello! I am excited to say that this chapter was on time! It was a push but I guess it payed off. This chapter was super easy for me to write because I had it planned out down to the very end. I hope you guys liked it. It was the big reveal I've been waiting for, and suspicions about the second pureblood are getting heated, so I'm super pumped.<strong>

**Q: Did you guys like the way Akane told her story? Would you have preferred it as a flash back instead?**

**Honestly, I wanted her whole story to be a flash back from the beginning, but it didn't make any sense to me that way. This way it actually showed her mental break down, which accounts for why she talked about her past in the first place. In the end I think it worked out well.****Tell me what you think!**

**Thank you immensely for looking at my words! Have a lovely day!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Preparations

The rest of the week was spent like this, this being hiding under the covers of my dark room. The Headmaster would knock and enter every few hours, offering me food or drink or even just someone to talk to. I denied all three, not wanting anything more from life.

Well, I suppose that wasn't completely true, I did want some things out of life. But all of those things seemed out of reach or impossible. Like getting my high school years back or getting my parents back. Neither would ever happen, so I hid. I hid under the thick white covers without a second thought. Because I knew a second thought would bring a third thought, and these thoughts would bring memories and realities and sorrow. And I've had enough sorrow for one lifetime.

I had been waiting for Shizuka Hio this entire week, but she hasn't come yet. She just complained endlessly in my thoughts. "_Please, kill me now," _I would sob to her, begging for an out. She would just sigh and respond with a "_You're no fun anymore". _

It was frustrating, not being enough for her. I wanted her to be satisfied, to win already. Not in the way Ichiru craved to please her though. I longed for death, and though Ichiru wanting to please Shizuka Hio was, in the long run, death as well, it was still different. I wanted it as a way out, Ichiru had fallen in love, and in the long run would die for her.

The knock on the door disrupted my mental classification of Ichiru and I. I shut my eyes and pulled the blankets further around me, forming a cocoon of comfort. When there was another knock I became curious. The Headmaster would just knock once and then enter, who was this?

Moments and two more knocks passed and the door slowly creaked open. Heavy footsteps entered the room and shut the door. The sound of the stool sliding to the edge of my fortress filled my ears for a couple of seconds and then stopped in front of me. I heard a slight squeak as weight was added to the chair, and then, silence.

I held off for a couple minutes till my curiosity got the best of me. I slowly lowered my arm, allowing the top of my head and eyes to show, but continuing to conceal my nose and mouth.

Before me sat the great Toga Yagari, looking exactly how he had when I first met him. His one good eye stared down at me, a look of disgust and concern covering his face. That was a look only a hunter like him could give, one carrying both disgust and concern. For some reason it didn't bother me. I knew he wasn't going to fuss over me, he was going to tell it like it is. Maybe I could use that.

"Tell me," He started. "Tell me why the hell you're hiding like a coward under a goddamn blanket." I was silent at his words. He and I both knew exactly why I was cowering, what a stupid question.

"Akane. I asked you a question." He reminded, his voice stern.

I opened my mouth, which was still hidden by the covers, and tried to speak. I then realized I hadn't spoken for a full week, my only noises being sobbing and snoring. I tried to form words but found it difficult.

Eventually a scratchy voice that belonged to me responded, "I'm not cowering. I'm accepting my fate. It's time. I waited too long." Yagari hung on every one of my words. When I finished he just shook his head no.

"Who taught you all you know? About life that is." The dark haired man asked. That was easy, and I gave him a straight forward response.

"My parents." I whispered.

"Well they did a shitty job if this is your solution to the problem." He spat. His words stung, more than almost any pain I've ever felt in my entire life. Speaking ill of the dead was a disgusting thing to do. I slowly began to pull the cover off of my full face and sit up. It felt odd to move like this, but I pushed through.

"What the hell did you just say?" I let out, fire growing in my chest with rage. Yagari smiled at my reaction.

"I said, your parents did a shitty job, raising you like a quitter." Yagari slowly stood from the stool, backing into the center of the room. I placed my feet firmly on the floor and followed, staring him down with utter hate. "Don't talk about my parents like that." I ordered, running a hand through my tangled, auburn hair.

"Well, I did talk about them like that, and what is a little girl like you gonna do about it, lay down and cry? You'll prove me right, so go ahead." He taunted. What the hell was his problem? Why was he doing this to me? Why was he being so cruel? "You're pathetic."

I couldn't handle his hurtful words any longer. He could mess with me all he wanted, but speaking badly towards my parents was in no way okay.

"Take it back!" I yelled as I dove for the tall man. He took the hit, getting pushed up against the wall as I held his throat. After a couple seconds he retaliated, flipping me to my right and holding my arms against the wall. I kneed him in the gut, looking for an escape, but his response was to knee me back. I was stuck, left helpless under his grasp. I gasped for air, through the pain of the knee, remembering my wounds that were there just weeks before. At that tears began to fall down my face, but that didn't stop me from wiggling my wrists under his grasp. I kept fighting, not making any progress.

"Let me go!" I cried out, kicking my legs. "Just leave me alone! I just want to die!"

At this the door bursted open and the Headmaster entered, speechless to the scene in front of him. Yagari didn't look back at him though, he continued to stare into my tear filled eyes.

"Did they die so you could give up?!" He yelled into my face. "Did they, Akane?!"

I felt like I was suffocating under the magnitude of his question. I knew the right answer, but the right answer just seemed so far away and distant. The right answer was too difficult to reach, the wrong answer just took me laying in bed. The wrong answer would end my suffering immediately.

"Answer me, Akane!" Tears continued to run down my cheeks as I spewed out an answer. "N-no!" I yelled back with force. "No they didn't! B-but I can't win! The games over Yagari! This is what she's wanted the whole time!" Sobs ended my sentence. I felt Yagari loosen his grip a bit, but still held me in place. Behind him I could see the Headmaster staring at us, Zero and Yuki now by his side. They all stood, wide eyed, serious faces. For the first time in what felt like forever I locked eyes with Zero. I didn't lose eye contact even as Yagari spoke.

"Are you gonna give up then?! Are you gonna let her kill you like you were nothing?!" I looked at Zero, up and down. I examined him from his black shoes to messy tie to tangled hair. I mouthed the words _I am sorry _to the teen with silver hair and then turned to Yagari.

"I won't give up." I whispered to him, shaking my head no desperately. "I'll fight her when she comes. I promise."

Yagari responded with a smile and then, unexpectedly, pulled me into an embrace. I let him hug me for a few moments and whispered thank you into his chest. I was so grateful for a man like Yagari, he was tough, something that I wasn't.

Yagari then excused himself along with the Headmaster and Yuki. Zero didn't move from the doorway, he just continued to stare at me. His eyes didn't hide the conflicting emotions going rushing through him. I frowned, I knew my apology wasn't enough, but it was all I had for him.

Zero took a step forward to be completely in front of me. "Every weekday right after school, weekends at six am, in the gym." Then the boy walked off. I didn't really understand what he meant, but I was just glad to hear the boys voice once again.

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><p>The following day was Monday, a day in which I spent loitering around the Headmasters house while he was out on business. I read a couple books off of his living room shelf and then cleaned the house spotless. I'd hoped that would eliminate some of his buckets of stress. If anyone deserved a break, it was him.<p>

I checked the digital clock in the kitchen over and over, waiting for 1:30 so I would go get ready. Zero had said weekdays after school, and I had been waiting all day to find out what that meant. I was usually a patient person, but that was only when I knew what I was waiting for. My curiosity triumphs over my patience every time, making situations like these monotonous.

I sprinted to my room, I had stopped referring it as my temporary room since Yagari knocked some sense into me, literally. I bolted towards the wardrobe and flung it open, collecting a monotone black skirt and a deep red crop top. I threw my hair into a messy bun to top it all off. I was, to say the least, excited to see Zero. I had no idea what he had in store for me, but I didn't care. He finally spoke to me, which meant he couldn't completely hate me for what happened to Ichiru.

_Unless he wants you dead too. _A voice in the back of my mind whispered. I recognized it as Shizuka Hio.

_Fuck off, _I ordered her. Even though it didn't feel right to say, I fought past the Pureblood to servant instinct that told me to apologize. That was probably the worst part of all this, the lack of control I have when it comes to my instincts towards her.

But thanks to the previous night's events I felt this new sense of confidence when it came to Shizuka. I was still afraid, she still had an unfair amount of power over me. But I suppose Yagari gave me that push that I needed, and I was forever grateful for that.

I decided not to skip out on shoes this time and tied a pair of black Vans onto my petite feet. Then, armed myself with my knives under my skirt. I left the Headmasters house by about 1:55 and began my walk over to the gymnasium. As I walked closer and closer to the school buildings more and more students appeared, bustling past me like I wasn't there.

The girls seemed the most rowdy out of all the students, announcing that they had to grab dinner before "going", going where I had no idea. I decided to ignore the excitement surrounding me and continued on to the gym.

I entered the oversized room to find it empty. The silver and black stands lined the walls, each step bringing the bleachers higher, and the basketball court sat in the center. A blue wrestling mat sat in the center of the basketball court, probably set up for a wrestling or cheer practice. I decided to sit on the stands and wait. I chose a spot at the bottom and began waiting for Zero. The clock above the door read 2:07, which worried me because Zero had said right after school.

As if reading my thoughts the silver haired boy entered the gymnasium. He was wearing a white tee and a pair of gray sweat pants. He looked at me and I gave him a small, awkward smile. He walked over and stood above me, I stayed in my seat.

"So, what happens here after school?" I asked. He looked down and gave the tiniest smile I've ever witnessed. "Training." He replied. This confused me, why would Zero invite me to a training? I didn't have anything to train for.

"Training for what?" Just as Zero was about to answer Toga Yagari entered the room. "So you brought a friend, Zero? Fine. Wont make me go any easier on you." He told Zero. I still stood utterly confused. Yagari was apart of this too?

"Okay, lets start with some simple sparing." The adult ordered.

"Wait," I interrupted. "Whats going on? Why are we sparing?" Toga looked at me and then Zero and back. "So he didn't tell you what we do here?" I shook my head no. "Nice, Zero. Very polite. Well, I train with Zero here after school and on weekends. It helps with his hunting."

I looked at Zero, who was still standing in front of me silently. I stared at him for an explanation.

Zero looked down at me and started talking. "You said you weren't going to just wait for death, so I figured we could help you train for Shizuka Hio. You did say you would fight her."

I thought about what Zero was saying for a minute. It was such a kind gesture, to offer help to me like this. But all I could do was shake my head no at the teens innocence.

"It won't work," I told him, staring into his lilac eyes. "I will never be able to beat her, maybe with training I'll hold up a good fight, but she'll always win." Zero diverted his eyes from me once I finished, obviously not wanting to show how he felt about this. He knew though, he was a hunter and a level-D. He knew that it was a battle with one ending and one ending only.

"Obviously," Yagari commented. "But, maybe Zero has the right idea here. Some training never hurt anybody. How much do you know?"

"About fighting?" I answered. "I know about knives." I pulled a knife out of the holster as an example. "Show me." Yagari ordered with a nod. I nodded back and looked around the room. There was a boxing dummy across the court, mimicking a buff man without arms, about 30 away from where I was standing. I juggled the knife from one hand to another, analyzing the target. I placed the knife in my left hand, pulled back slowly, and threw. It flipped through the air and hit the dummy in the left peck, upon contact I let out a low curse. To far left for my liking.

Yagari clapped a few times in praise. "Nice," he commented. I shook my head no. I could do better. I repeated my formation once more, raising the second knife. I shut my eyes for a moment and remembered my dads advice.

"_Don't be so hard on yourself, Akane." My father ordered. We stood in the backyard, throwing knives into a painted red target drawn on the tree. I huffed and puffed in response, frustrated at my attempts. I hadn't hit the target once today, while my father hadn't thrown anything less than perfect. I threw another, spinning with the throw for extra power. It hit the trunk right under the target, making me breath even heavier. _

"_Akane," My father began again. "Focus. Slow down and look at the target. Slow your breathing, then release." I looked at my father and then looked at the ground. "I'll never be as good as you." I told him. _

_My father walked over to my younger self, just breaking into my teenage years my uncut bangs fell into my face. He pushed them out of my face and spoke. "Don't say that, thats just not true. You are going to be great, but you have to want it. And you can't give up. Now do what I told you."_

I opened my eyes and focused on the center of the target. I slowed my breathing and began to pull back. With a small smile creeping onto my face I threw the knife while letting out a relaxed breath. It made contact with the center of the targets chest, a perfect shot.

I turned to Yagari and Zero, who were both smirking at my throw. "Perfect." Zero commented. I replied with a quiet thanks and looked at Yagari.

"What about close range fighting?" He asked. I shrugged in response. My father and I hadn't done too much of that before his passing.

"I'm not as skilled in close range fighting." I told him. "Okay, then that's what we'll work on." He smiled. "Lets see how much you know. You and Zero on the mat, like I said before." My eyes jumped between the two of them and the blue padding on the court.

Zero was dramatically taller than me, my head only came up to his chin. In addition, he was strong, his muscle tone was visible by simple glance. I had no chance, especially if he was already trained.

Zero stood across from me on the mat, looking me up and down. He stopped and looked at Yagari. "She's wearing a skirt." He announced. I giggled at his statement, which made him shoot a glare at me. "I always wear skirts. What is the problem?" I challenged. Zero looked at me with a face that said, 'don't make me say it'. I let out another laugh. "I'm just messing with you. I always have spandex under, see." I lifted the leg of my skirt a bit to show a pair of black spandex. "If I didn't wear skirts then I couldn't get away with walking around with a whole set of knives. It's easier this way."

Yagari chuckled at Zero's awkwardness, making Zero blush a bit. "Okay, okay." Yagari breathed. "Next time just wear some pants, kay?" I nodded, a stupid smile still plastered on my face.

Yagari clapped his hands and stood at the edge of the mat. "Okay, lets get going. Go!" At his words Zero and I launched towards each other, both going for a lower tackle. I beat him to it, being faster and trying to use that to my advantage. I knocked him to the ground, but just barley. My strength was nowhere near where it would need to be to defeat the boy.

I landed on top of Zero, trying to pin him as best I could. He easily overpowered me, throwing me to his right. I quickly rolled, avoiding his mount. I pushed to my feet again and we began circling each other again. Zero moved this time, going for another tackle, one that I couldn't avoid. He rested on top of me and held his hand on my throat, pinning me.

I stared into Zero's eyes and he mine. I again got caught up in the endless stories the boys eyes told, there were so much emotion. At the moment is showcased how much he wanted to win, and he did.

Yagari smiled at his pupils victory. "Alright." He commented. "Zero, that should have been an easier match for you, so stop slacking." Zero nodded and whispered a "yes master" between his huffs. Zero unmounted me and rolled into a sitting position on the mat next to me, trying to catch his breath. I sat myself up and did the same. Zero was too strong for me, I would have to try harder.

"Akane, you need to bulk up." Yagari read my thoughts. I nodded at him. "We can work on close range fighting with the both of you, obviously you both need practice." I giggled at Yagari's joke, and even saw a small smile creep onto Zero's hair covered face.

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><p><strong>Okay, so this one is a bit on the short side, and it's late. Please don't hate me for that, I've been dealing with a lot of personal and school related issues lately, so an update had to be pushed back, but just a little. I hope you enjoyed this chapter though! It was super heavy and depressing at the beginning, so I tried to lighten it up near the end a bit. <strong>

**Question: Do you like Akane's relationships with Yagari and Zero?**

**My favorite relationship related event in this chapter was Yagari pushing Akane to not give up. It seemed like a second father, which was really heart warming to write, especially in such a dark point in the story. Also, Zero branching out more and more brought a smile to my, and hopefully your, face.**

**Thank you immensely for looking at my words! Have a lovely day!**


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